An Inexpensive Frame Grabber for the Microscopist

Having shopped for an inexpensive but powerful digital imaging system for the last four years, I have finally found a device that will satisfy even the most frugal budget. The Snappy Video Snapshot by Play, Incl, is a 24-bit true color frame grabber that plugs into your PC printer port. After plugging the Snappy device into your printer port (Figure 1) and spending approximately six minutes loading the Snappy software provided, you can connect a color or black and white camera, VCR, or television set and capture your first digital image. Because the device plugs into a printer port, it is completely portable. A switch box is needed if you will be changing between digital image acquisition and printing tasks frequently.