Durango Release Notes

These notes chronicle new and updated program features. Only general public releases are described here. Most new features are first introduced as beta releases. Program changes are listed here with the earliest public release in which they appear.

Changes with Version v3.50 (27 June 2006)

All new Acquisition Engine. Live Image remains active during acquisition. Support for NIDAQ "Legacy" drivers is dropped in favor of NIDAQmx drivers. Support added for NIDAQ USB 6008 and ImperX VCE-PRO devices to enable phase shifting with newer laptops having only one PCMCIA slot.
Aperture groups may be assigned by use of flags on Map window. Aperture group statistics display as additional columns of QC Window.
OptiCode, MetroPro and CodeV INT documents may now be opened or attached as REF or OPD Arithmetic components without explicitly converting them to Durango documents.

Changes with Version v3.40 (31 May 2005)

New Cut Line tool creates dynamic sections of the OPD map.
New report viewer supports JavaScript (regardless of browser settings) and includes an Edit Template feature.
Additional graphics file formats for import and export.
3rd-order Seidel aberrations.
Selecting a fiducial in Map Window or spreadsheet selects in both.
Fiducials are drawn at their image coordinates and their object coordinates. When selected, object and image are connected by an arc.
Several new QC Window parameters and HTML Report datacodes.
Slider on 3D Window controls aspect ratio.
OPD can now be identified as Surface or Wavefront. This affects FFT diffraction analysis and CodeV export.

Changes with Version 3.30 (26 August 2004)

New aperture scale legend on Map Windows.
Select tool now serves as a Map Window annotation inspector.
New XYZ tool continuously reports cursor location (x,y,z) in Map Windows.
Scale dialog (previously Unit Circle dialog) has been simplified. Explicit support of "No Scale" has been added.
User Preferences let you disable and hide features not required in your work. Features are temporarily reenabled if you open a document that requires them.
Several Alert and Warning dialogs have been added to improve the user experience.

Changes with Version 3.21 (20 April 2004)

New QC Windows support custom modes.
Best fit sphere, best fit flat and transparent wedge statistics are optionally reported to QC Windows and HTML Reports.
New Residual Mode of Map Window clearly shows whether fitting polynomial adequately represents OPD map.
Saturated pixel rejection.
Durango directly accepts measurement data from ADE Phase Shift's OptiCode AE acquisition engine.
Durango supports Promet International's FiBO interferometer with USB 2.0 interface.
Online help graphically illustrates the various Zernike enumeration methods.

Changes with Version 3.10 (29 December 2003)

The mask editor has been completely rewritten to use persistent vector primitives with all changes applied immediately. There is no longer a need to open or close a mask editor. Separate mask tools are provided for creating apertures and obscurations so there is no longer a need to fill or erase inside or outside.
The Data Mask has been deprecated because its effect was irreversible. It will soon be replaced with a rectangular Area of Interest mask operating on the Live Image window.
The Analysis Mask is now opaque to avoid displaying any misleading extrapolation of the fitting polynomial.
Map Window annotation colors are now part of the palette definitions, assuring that annotation will always contrast with its background bitmap.
You can copy and paste fiducials and/or mask primitives to and from the Windows clipboard.
The Resize tool now acts as a toggle state for the active window. With Resize toggled on, a Map Window will automatically change size with zoom or when visibility of mode bar, palette bar or cross sections is toggled.
The Unit Circle dialog's Disable Grip Editing toggle has been deprecated. Instead, Unit Circle diameter and/or location can be grip edited if and only if they are defined by pixel coordinates.
The Tilt Phase tool is no longer a separate tool; it is now the default (implied) state of the Selection tool when over a Phase Map.
Pressing the Shift key will temporarily swap the functions of the Zoom In and Zoom Out tools.
Durango can optionally acquire a Dark Frame to be subtracted from each member of the Frame Set. This has no effect on conventional phase algorithms but can improve thresholding of modulation and/or intensity.
Durango can monitor laser intensity on a NIDAQ channel and use this information to compensate phase algorithms for source variations. We developed this feature specifically to support a wavelength-shifting diode laser interferometer that suffered from associated intensity modulation.
The version of Durango that last saved the file is reported in the Notes Window.

Changes with Version 3.00 (16 June 2003)

Dynamic tabs have replaced mode bars in all Window types that support modes. Controls for unavailable modes are no longer displayed.
Map Window offers new Pan tool and improved Zoom and Fiducial tools. A new "Tilt Phase" tool enables user to dynamically tilt computed phase maps to aid in visual interpretation of interferogram fringes. A new graphical frame selection control is displayed when Frame mode is selected. Frames are clearly identified in title bar by phase angle and frame set.
3D Window is now a distinct type. 3D display of modes that do not represent a wavefront or surface have been deprecated.
Static Analysis no longer requires that a NIDAQ module be present.
Import of ADE Phase Shift OptiCode documents.
Optional pre-removal of Tilt, Power and/or Residual from OPD Arithmetic component maps.
Optional pre-removal of Tilt, Power from OPD map prior to morphing.
New Diffraction Window diplays FFT-based point spread function (PSF) map, encircled and ensquared energy, modulation transfer function (MTF) map, and MTF profile.
Units dialog has gained an "Optical" group for specification of a numerical aperture (to support PSF, MTF) and a refractive index.
New License Registration form is automatically populated with User Name, Company, Machine ID, Key S/N and Durango version. All fields are remembered in a browser cookie to simplify upgrades and license renewals.
Durango installer includes Rainbow Sentinel Driver and 3 sample data files.

Changes with Version 2.90 (26 January 2003)

Import and Export of CodeV .INT files is now fully supported.
Export of OPD data as an RGB bitmap has been deprecated because of incompatiblity with Durango's 4-byte internal format.
A hardware module has been added to support New Focus PicoMotors.
The red sinusoidal palette choice has been added to Image Window.

Changes with Version 2.80 (2 December 2002)

New spatial carrier option enables any Durango temporal phase shift algorithm to be re-purposed as a static fringe algorithm.
By default, one frame is now retained upon saving a measurement without its (full) frame data.
Whenever Reference phase is subtracted, the Phase mode of Image Window will display Phase–Ref instead of Phase.
Added import of Zygo MetroPro^® files.
Added import and export of raw OPD bitmaps.
Masking commands have been consolidated on the Menu Bar.
Corrected a long-standing cosine error in the computation of Unit Circle diameter from fiducials in presence of coordinate system rotation.

Changes with Version 2.72 (7 August 2002)

Added support for ImperX VCE video capture device, recommended as a replacement for MRT VideoPort.

Changes with Version 2.70 (13 June 2002)

Added discrete orthogonal polynomial fitting mode and dropped SVD fitting mode.
Added discrete orthogonal polynomial aberration removal mode.
Live video has its own window and is no longer a mode of Image Window.
Computation of morphed fiducial locations is more robust, yielding fewer "N/A" results.

Changes with Version 2.61 (29 March 2002)

Bug fixes only.

Changes with Version 2.60 (10 March 2002)

Custom data logging, using same ASCII template syntax as for custom reports.
Import of Zygo MetroPro documents.
Export of raw bitmap data.
Optional RMS=1 normalization of Zernike polynomials.
Improved edge detection algorithm for finding Unit Circle.
New DIIMAQ driver v1.5.3 to support 10-bit frame resolution of IMAQ 1409 board.
Major revision of Durango HTML help.

Changes with Version 2.52 (30 October 2001)

Phase shift calibration uses a least-squares phase algorithm to calibrate the entire frame set.
We have added a general least-squares synchronous phase algorithm.
Durango can be automated to acquire measurements continuously at any specified interval.
3D maps can be animated to spin slowly about the Z axis.
HTML reports support 3D image maps and optional Peak and Valley symbols.

Changes with Version 2.50 (29 July 2001)

Expanded online support accessible through Help menu.
Image maps now include optional Peak and Valley symbols.
Image maps now include optional rectangular or polar grid overlay.
Mask fill and erase tools now act on the entire bitmap if no mask primitive is selected.
Support for IREZ USB Live image capture device brings Durango measure capability to laptops running Windows 2000/9X.
Unit Circle definition now supports an edge detection mode.
Unit Circle scale definition now offers a choice between fixed diameter (previous default) and fixed image scale (new).

Changes with Version 2.05 (25 June 2001)

New customizable report feature is based on HTML templates, offering the user full control over content and layout. Several report templates are included for immediate use or as examples for creating your own reports.
A piston removal tool has been added.
The Unit Circle feature has been overhauled to improve stability and fix some quirks.
Morphing feature has been overhauled to support an unlimited number of coefficients and reorganize constraints for clarity. An optional morphed Unit Circle can now be defined, allowing the user to control the scale and position on bitmap of the morphed interferogram image.
The OPD Arithmetic component list can be reordered.
Zernike coefficients can now be tabulated using the University of Arizona FRINGE numbering.

Changes with Version 2.01 (28 February 2001)

Ability to specify opposite phase polarity for subtracted reference has been removed. Use OPD Arithmetic if this is your intent.
Support of Zernike-only documents.
Correction of phase for ramping with interlaced video.
Wavelengths are no longer restricted to those on the pulldown list.
Expanded log file to facilitate troubleshooting.
Modified OPD Arithmetic dialog to intelligently label more than 52 components.
Remote triggering and automatic saving of data are implemented. Remote triggering requires NIDAQ module.
Durango setup now uses an InstallShield installer that is downloaded as a single file. The installation directory and start menu shortcuts are created automatically. Acquisition modules are selected from an installation menu.
Online help includes hyperlinks to Diffraction International’s web site, enabling users to more easily check for upgrades, report bugs, request features, submit documentation feedback, or contact a technical support representative.
OPD Arithmetic documents are saved with an explicit OPD map and component documents can be optionally localized in the document.
Support for the MuTech MV-1000 frame grabber has been dropped. Contact us if this poses a problem for you.
Dragging a corner of the rectangle mask edit primitive now leaves the opposite corner stationary.

Changes with Version 2.00 (12 July 2000)

Version 2.00 is the second major release of Durango, with many changes affecting file format and calculation engine. The overall look and feel of the interface remains the same and older files remain readable, so users should have little trouble (but much joy) in adapting to the new features.

Durango now supports frame data with up to 32 bits pixel depth.
The calculation engine has been extensively rewritten to minimize unnecessary recomputation upon changing of analysis parameters. This has resulted in reduced memory usage, better responsivity, and much improved stability.
A nearly transparent change is that reference subtraction is now performed on phase data rather than OPD data. If you require reference OPD subtraction, this feature remains available as an OPD Arithmetic session.
Durango file format has been modified to support new features and is no longer readable by previous versions of Durango. Lossless data compression and the data mask are used to reduce file size. A thumbnail preview has been added. Saving of a single frame image is a new option. OPD maps are no longer stored explicitly, but are instead computed from raw frame data or from phase map and modulation map. Multi-file open and reference subtraction no longer require OPD maps to be stored explicitly.
Reference subtraction is now defined, much more narrowly, to be subtraction of an identically registered bitmap. This definition is appropriate for Twyman-Green interferometers or window TWD. Reference interferogram data can be external (as before) or localized within current data file. For more general reference subtractions, use Multi-Open.
Configuration settings may be saved to and restored from data files. This feature will be appreciated by anyone who shares an interferometer.
OPD Arithmetic (enhanced multi-open) dialog supports weighted OPD sums (and differences). Constituent OPD maps may be represented by either their Zernike fit terms or their bitmaps.
Synthetic data dialog is more intuitive and now supports unlimited Zernike terms.
Changes to analysis settings can be applied without first closing the analysis dialog.
Numerous phase algorithms have been added based on 45, 60, 90 and 120 degree phase steps.
A prototype FFT single-frame phase algorithm is provided for analyzing static interferograms. This is a work in process and will be enhanced in future releases.
Multi-aperture phase unwrapping is supported with option of user-defined aperture leveling.
Pixel healing may be performed with or without smoothing of initially valid pixels.
Removal of fit residual may be toggled like any polynomial aberration; the now redundant Fit Map mode has been deleted.
Average radial profile is the first of several analyses to be derived from OPD map.
New X, Y and gradient slope maps and histograms.
Image windows now support 3D graphics. This is a work in process.
User may select units, range and precision for aperture, OPD and slope quantities. User may select between Cartesian and polar aperture coordinates and overlay a grid on interferogram images.
Online help includes a glossary and expanded hardware installation instructions.
Durango’s use of Windows registry has been changed to prevent crashes upon version downgrading.
The Matrox Meteor-II frame grabber is now supported.

Changes with Version 1.2.3 (12 July 1999)

Added morphing transformation of bitmaps to equations or to fiducials.
Durango supports non-square pixel formats. This requires updating of Durango hardware drivers.
External reference and multiple open files are optionally scaled and/or registered to current Unit Circle.
External reference file is found when current and reference files are both copied to a new directory.
User is warned if reference file Acquisition S/N does not match saved value.
Added "Fit" mode to Image Window, displaying polynomial fit to current OPD map.
Smoothing now supports "Mean" option.
Smoothing now supports pixel healing.
Image Window cross sections may be viewed as spreadsheets by right clicking over the desired cross section.

Changes with Version 1.2.2 (17 May 1999)

Durango file format has been modified to support new features and is no longer readable by previous versions of Durango.
Data acquisition now requires dinidaq.dll version 1.2.9 or better.
The log file (durango.log) has been improved to aid troubleshooting.
Expanded online help is now context sensitive and better organized.
Added fiducial support including graphic placement, image and object coordinates, spreadsheet editing, and copy/paste.
Added physical aperture units and fitting of Unit Circle to fiducials.
Improved phase step histogram now supports 4-frame algorithms and recognizes pixel rejection criteria.
User selection of frame subsets is supported.
Improved phase averaging works on phase (instead of OPD) to avoid multiple unwrappings.
User selection of frame sets enables rejection of an inferior set.
Calculations on OPD-only data sets (no frame data stored) are improved.
Added exporting of OPD map to CodeV .INT file format.
Added export/import of full resolution (24-bit) OPD data.
Added support for copying of fitting coefficients to Windows clipboard.
Introduced new Units page to Analysis Options. A work in process.
Allow specification of waves per fringe values other than 1.0 and 0.5.

Changes with Version 1.2.1 (4 March 1999)

Added nominal phase angle of each frame to data file and Import/Graphics dialog to better support general phase computation and calibration algorithms and to better separate Frame Set from Phase Algorithm.
Added support for user-selected OPD units to Seidel, Zernike and Monomial fitting windows.

Changes with Version 1.2.0 (23 January 1999)

Improved control over measurement timing. Timing data is now displayed and stored with the data file.
Phase shift calibration, previously limited to 5-frame phase algorithms, has been generalized to calibrate any set of three or more frames. Calibration results can be computed and displayed for current or saved measurement data.
Reference subtraction now preceeds phase unwrapping. Suppression of unwrapping allows very rapid display of phase measured interferograms, now with reference subtracted. Most useful with Twyman-Green type interferometers or for transmission testing of windows.
Improved fitting options dialog.
Hardware key serial number and current date/time form a unique ID for each measurement.
Expanded context sensitive help.
Support for EPIX PixCI-SV4, a low cost PCI bus video frame grabber.

Changes with Version 1.1.5 (23 November 1998)

New Fitting View can display Zernikes, Seidels or Monomials. Zernikes and Monomials will display with single or double indices.
The polynomial degree for wavefront fitting is now limited only by computer resources (and user patience). Durango supports an essentially infinite number of fitting terms.
Storage of frame images has been inverted, requiring users to simultaneously upgrade their Durango hardware drivers. This has simplified some code and improved display speed.
Dragging the Unit Circle now switches its definition to manual mode.
Polarity of the phase shift can now be specified as an Analysis Option.
Image export feature now supports .jpg format. Users are reminded that .jpg compression usually results in some loss of information.
New palettes have been added.
Analysis Options dialog now includes buttons for Save as Defaults and Restore Defaults.

Changes with Version 1.1.3 (12 October 1998)

Pull down and right click View menus are now tailored for each view.
New File/Export menu selection saves the active Image Window as a .bmp file.
Report printing has been expanded.
The format of hardware driver documentation and version numbers have been standardized.
The number of colors in the discrete palette has been increased to 16.
The P-V and RMS statistics in the toolbar have been colored black on yellow to make them a bit more prominent.

Changes with Version 1.1.2 (29 September 1998)

Field level (What's This?) help has been added for Analysis Options. It may be accessed by right clicking over features in the dialog boxes.
Multi-Open feature has been restored, allowing user to average OPD maps of several data sets.
New report printing feature offers an alternative to screen dump. This will eventually include everything about the measurement.
New Measure/Properties menu selection graphically displays timing information for the current data set. Data file format has been expanded to store timing information for data frames and PZT or other actuators.
New driver for EDC-1000, updated driver for Zipshot.

Changes with Version 1.1.1 (1 September 1998)

New HTML style online help. Requires a new HTML help engine which is standard with Microsoft Windows 98 and also included with Internet Explorer 4.0. You must install the HTML help engine before using Durango online help.
Live video is now integrated into Image Window as a selectable mode.
Improved Histogram Window has additional intensity mode.

Revision history prior to version 1.1.1 is not available.