Friday, July 11, 2008

A binocular microscope has one optical path starting at the microscope objective. The optical path is split into two paths that are then brought to your eye. If your microscope has two eyepieces and one standard objective then you have a binocular microscope. A trinocular microscope works in the same manner, but the optical path is split into three paths, two for your eyes and a third port mostly used for a video/camera connection. In a stereo microscope, there are two paths starting at the microscope objective that travel parallel up to your eyepiece. There is an advantage to using a stereo microscope; it is the depth perception. Having two separate optical paths allows depth perception and three dimensional viewing of an object possible. If you are using a binocular microscope you will see only a flat field and you will not be able to distinguish any height differences on the object you are viewing.