What is an event-based detector?

One of the most common questions we have to answer when we describe why our Apollo detector is so effective at electron counting is the question of what an event-based detector is.

Event-based detectors have a fascinating history, dating back to the late 1980s and early 1990s, and efforts to replicate the way that animals see the world with our eyes, optic nerves, and brains.

For certain applications, including electron counting, event-based detectors promise to be a far more data efficient and cost effective alternative to conventional frame-based detectors.

To properly explain the differences between event-based and frame-based detectors, some of our applications specialists recently took the opportunity to write an article for Microscopy and Analysis magazine.

You can find their article at the link below for a full answer to the question “What is an event-based detector”?

https://analyticalscience.wiley.com/do/10.1002/was.000700117

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Dr. Barnaby Levin to Present at MSC-SMC 2026 in Montreal

Direct Electron is pleased to announce that Dr. Barnaby Levin will be presenting at the 52nd Annual Meeting of the Microscopy Society of Canada / Société de Microscopie du Canada (MSC-SMC) in Montreal. MSC-SMC 2026 brings together researchers and technologists from across the microscopy community for a week of scientific exchange focused on electron microscopy, advanced imaging, analytical techniques, and emerging instrumentation. The meeting will also feature a Microscopy Summer School on May 25–26, including lectures and hands-on sessions in analytical electron microscopy, imaging data processing, advanced optical microscopy, and X-ray microscopy. We look forward to connecting with attendees throughout the meeting to discuss the latest advances in cryo-EM, diffraction, and high-performance direct detectors for TEM imaging. If you’ll be attending MSC-SMC 2026 in Montreal, we hope you’ll join Dr. Barnaby Levin’s presentation and connect with our Canadian partners Edge Scientific during the meeting. And don’t forget to follow Barnaby on BlueSky at @bdalev.bsky.social!

Dr. Barnaby Levin Attending TEM Gordon Research Conference

We’re pleased to share that our Applications Scientist, Dr. Barnaby Levin, is attending the upcoming Transmission Electron Microscopy for Materials Research Gordon Research Conference, one of the premier international meetings focused on advancing the frontiers of TEM science and instrumentation, to give a talk about cutting-edge MAPS Detector Technology. The conference, running February 15-20, brings together leading researchers from around the world to present cutting-edge, often unpublished work while fostering deep scientific discussion and collaboration. This year’s program highlights recent breakthroughs in high-resolution TEM imaging and spectroscopy, while addressing key challenges such as imaging radiation-sensitive materials, improving throughput, and resolving structures in thicker samples. As TEM technology continues to push toward theoretical limits, meetings like this help shape the next decade of innovation in materials characterization. We’re excited to see Barnaby engaging with the global TEM community and contributing to discussions driving the field forward. And don’t forget to follow him on BlueSky at @bdalev.bsky.social!