April 24, 1995, Windows World '95/COMDEX Spring, Atlanta, Georgia – Today, Matrox announced Matrox Inspector 1.7, Windows™-based imaging software for scientific/industrial applications, that now adds sophisticated scripting to its extensive list of functions including image enhancement and analysis. Scripting allows users to automate routines and develop applications without programming. Aimed at both end-users and developers brings the power of imaging to the desktop at an affordable price.

Just as low-cost desktop publishing software transformed the world of graphic arts, Matrox Inspector 1.7 has the potential to transform the world of science and engineering. Matrox Inspector 1.7 turns a desktop PC into an imaging workstation, allowing scientists, technicians, and engineers to extract precise measurements, as well as other information from images. End-users will appreciate the ability to extract vital statistics from images at the click of a button; developers will benefit from the ability to quickly develop proof-of-concept demonstrations for their machine vision, image analysis, or medical visualization systems.

Matrox Inspector's new scripting has been designed to increase productivity and easily integrate image processing operations into an end-user's work, or a developer's prototype. Scripting automates routines: a user can record a sequence of operations to be used during a future session, to make it available to other members of the team or to be repeated and applied in batch mode. Scripting enables the development of applications without programming and can be used to develop algorithms and optimum routines by applying scripts to test images.

Automating a sequence of imaging operations is performed interactively using the record, pause, and stop buttons included on Inspector's toolbar. Mouse selections are recorded in a script that can be modified by typing directly in the script window or by using any text editor. The Inspector Expression Builder also lets a user add built-in, user definable and external functions to a script. An extensive debugging mode is available to help a user correct scripting errors.

As with version 1.5, Matrox Inspector 1.7 continues to provide point-and-click access to a tool-set of the most commonly used functions for image capture, storage, organization, enhancement, analysis, and inspection.

Matrox Inspector runs on any Windows™-compatible display adapter and can be combined with Matrox Imaging hardware for high-quality image capture. For cost sensitive imaging applications, Matrox Inspector works with Matrox Meteor, Matrox's newest and low-cost PCI standard color/monochrome frame grabber. Inspector supports other Matrox hardware, from flexible frame grabbers with integrated display to real-time image processors. This software is available stand-alone or can be purchased as part of an application development bundle called iTOOLS Interactive, which includes the Matrox Imaging Library 2.1 of highly optimized commands for image processing, blob analysis, pattern matching, gauging/measurement and OCR(optional).

Since 1976, Matrox has been a leading designer and manufacturer of board-level solutions for the graphics, video, and imaging industries.

For more information, contact our Media Relations Team.