Guidelines for Understanding Magnification in the Modern Digital Microscope Era

For digital light microscopes, which have image sensors but no eyepieces, the image is displayed directly on an electronic monitor. This development brings a significant change to the usual way magnification of an object viewed via a microscope is determined. Over the years, there have been various standards that define magnification when viewing an image through a microscope’s eyepieces. Only recently have magnification standards been developed that apply to a digital microscope. This article offers guidelines for determining the range of useful magnification values for digital microscopy, particularly when monitors of various sizes are employed.