Acquisition of large dynamic range information is important for optimizing the performance of SEM’s, TEM’s, and other microscopies. The majority of digital imaging performed in desktop publishing and other consumer markets today is limited to 8-bit resolution, and these technologies are often modified for use in electron microscopy (EM). The limitations of these techniques are clearly evident in many EM situations despite the fact that human visual system is not equipped to differentiate more than 2^5 gray levels. The most common case is when a user seeks to view information hidden in both the image's dark levels and in the brightest levels. If multiple images at different detection levels are required despite digital processing then the image information is being limited by the digitization resolution.

Digitization is the process of converting a signal from the analog form that originates from our microscope detectors to a digital form that is suitable for processing within computers.