QUAREP_logo_full_blue@1800px
Cloud Github Youtube Linkedin

WG 2 – Detection system performance

Home / Working Groups / WG 2 – Detection system performance

WG 2 – Objectives

WG2 focuses on the detection system, comprising the detection path and its detector(s), and how it measures the signal from the sample.

Members of WG2 aim to standardize the characterization of the detection system performance and create standard procedures for monitoring it over time, thereby revealing performance issues that could affect data reproducibility. Therefore, WG2 will define universal, externally measurable parameters applicable to any type of detector (e.g., photons, linearity, noise), together with measurement tools and protocols for measuring these parameters from common detector types. These universal parameters will be specified according to each distinct type of detector’s internal parameters, which have already been defined by the community. They will enable the evaluation and comparison of different detection systems, thus pinpointing the most suitable technology for given applications.

WG 2 – Co-Chairs

WG 2 - Latest News

QUAREP-LiMi welcomes our first member from Ukraine

We warmly welcome our first member from Ukraine, Dr. Borys Olifirov, from the Bogomoletz Institute of Physiology of NAS of Ukraine who just joined Working Group 2, 5, 6, 7 and 8.

Characterization of the Photon Conversion Factor, Noise, and Dynamic Range of Light Microscope Detection Systems

The WG 2 released its first protocol “Characterization of the Photon Conversion Factor, Noise, and Dynamic Range of Light Microscope Detection Systems“. In total there are 5 protocols belonging to the protocol:

  1. Introduction – Background and Aims
  2. Sample Preparation – An Easy-to-Prepare Sample Slide
  3. Data Generation – Systems with an Area Detector
  4. Data Generation – Systems with a Point Detector
  5. Analysis – Characterization of the Photon Conversion Factor, Noise, and Dynamic Range

The protocols are featured on

QUAREP-LiMi welcomes our first member from Slovenia

We welcome a new member to our working groups 2, 3, 10, 11 and 12. Mr. Aleš Kladnik from, the Biotechnical Faculty of University of Ljubljana in Slovenia just joined QUAREP-LiMi.

 

Upcoming meeting: 9th February 2026, 5:00 pm
Last meeting: 12th January 2026, 5:00 pm

Release of protocols collection:

 
 
  1. Subgroup: Area detector
    • Aims: Establish protocols for characterization of detection systems with an area detector.
    • Co-leads: Britta Schroth, David McFadden
    • Contact information: schroth@mpi-cbg.de
    • On-going tasks: 
      • Move measurement protocol to protocols.io
      • Test measurement protocol with marker pen as sample
      • Evaluate measurement and analysis parameters written down in Airtable
    • Cloud storage location (can be accessed as a member) → here
  2. Subgroup: Point detector
    • Aims: Establish protocols for characterization of detection systems with a point detector.
    • Co-leads: Gert-Jan Bakker, Andre Zeug
    • Contact information: gert-jan.bakker@radboudumc.nl
    • On-going tasks: 
      • Insert measurement protocol to protocols.io
      • Generate comments and hints for protocol
      • Evaluate measurement and analysis parameters written down in Airtable
    • Cloud storage location (can be accessed as a member) → here
  3. Subgroup: Test sample
    • Aims: investigate and define standardized samples for characterization of detection systems.
    • Co-leads: Valeria Berno, David McFadden
    • Contact information: berno.valeria@hsr.it
    • On-going tasks: 
      • Test and characterize standardized light sources for characterization of microscope’s detection systems.
    • Cloud storage location (can be accessed as a member) → here
  4.  

59th meeting, 9th of February 2026

Meeting date

09/02/2026 @ 5:00 PM (CET/CEST)

Meeting documentation

58th meeting, 12th of January 2026

Meeting date

12/01/2026 @ 5:00 PM (CET/CEST)

Meeting summary

Agenda

  1. Organizational matters and News
  2. Update on theory paper
  3. Poster abstract for FOM 2026
  4. Update on LiMi-model – camera model & glossary
  5. Update on dexel – pixel approval process
  6. Topics for 2026 – priorities and timelines

Meeting documentation

57th meeting, 08th of December 2025

Meeting date

08/12/2025 @ 5:00 PM (CET/CEST)

Meeting summary

Agenda

  1. Organizational matters and News
  2. Update on theory paper
  3. Update on LiMi-model – / NBO-Q camera model & glossary
  4. Report from dexel – pixel stakeholder group meetings
  5. Recap of 2025 and outlook to 2026
Summary The meeting started with a brief summary of the last Steering Committee meeting, which included decision on the name “LiMi-model” to replace “NBO-Q”, planning for the annual meeting, announcement of three open positions for QUAREP-LiMi funded through a DFG grant, and report from work by WG11 which will be published soon. We continued the meeting with discussing the next steps for our theory paper and the possibility to represent our work with a poster during FOM 2026. After a short about the current status of our camera model and glossary work, we went through the documents prepared by the dexel-pixel stakeholder group. WG2 approved the definitions with potential change to  the pixel definition by WG10. In addition, the social media text and long texts were approved too and sent to WG10 for their approval. We will review the result in our January meeting, before the whole document is sent to the SC for approval. Since this was the last meeting in 2025, we finished with a short recap of our achievements in 2025 and outlook to our plans for 2026.

Meeting documentation

56th meeting, 10th of November 2025

Meeting date

10/11/2025 @ 5:00 PM (CET/CEST)

Meeting summary

Agenda

  1. Organizational matters and News
  2. Update on theory paper
  3. Short update on NBO-Q camera model & glossary
  4. Discussion about dexel vs pixel text

Summary

After an initial discussion and open question about the correct procedure for writing the paper—particularly regarding contributions and data sharing—the conversation moved to the paper draft. The subgroup presented the main document they are working on and addressed key points such as the choice of journal and the paper format, which will likely be a scientific report or review. It was agreed that formal guidelines and a brainstorming session will be needed to define protocol updates and determine how much new data can be included. At the beginning of next year, a smaller subgroup should be formed with clearer ideas on these issues, and efforts should be made to invite additional contributors, especially from company representatives.
A brief summary of the last Steering Committee meeting followed: new funding opportunities were confirmed, and the success of the DFG application was noted. The need to create an OMERO subgroup was highlighted, and Britta reported on her presentation during a Springer/Nature webinar on WG2 protocols. The group also discussed concerns about FAIR data sharing costs but concluded that the topic extends beyond WG2; the Steering Committee will be informed. Additional updates were provided on the NBO-Q camera model and glossary, as well as on the ongoing discussion regarding dexel versus pixel terminology together with WG10.

Meeting documentation

55th meeting, 13th of October 2025

Meeting date

13/10/2025 @ 5:00 PM (CET/CEST)

Meeting summary

Agenda

  1. Organizational matters and News
  2. New name for NBO-Q model
  3. Update on NBO-Q camera model & glossary
  4. Discussion about dexel vs pixel text
  5. Update on theory paper
Summary
At the beginning of our meeting, we shared information from the SC meeting: a big NSF grant was approved and process for finding a better suited name for our model was agreed.
Next, we discussed the proposed names for the model to replace NBO-Q and agreed that WG2 endorses the suggestions by WG7: LiMi Model. Our camera part of the model is still in the process of being finished, one more meeting round needs to be organised. Specifically, the definitions and describing texts for pixels (as picture elements) and dexels (as detector elements) need to be finalised. We discussed the suggested definitions and text drafts. In the last part of the meeting, the paper subgroup reported about their progress. The content of the work in progress will be shared on the QUAREP-LiMi cloud, in a folder privat to the paper subgroup.
 

Meeting documentation

54th meeting, 8th of September 2025

Meeting date

08/09/2025 @ 5:00 PM (CET/CEST)

Meeting summary

Agenda

  1. Organizational matters and News
  2. Update on NBO-Q camera model & glossary
  3. Updates after the summer break (paper, automation…)
  4. Decide on next priorities
Summary
The meeting welcomed new member Kemp Watson and covered organizational updates from the steering committee, including various project developments and upcoming meetings scheduled for October and November. The working group discussed their focus on detection system performance, including camera models and standardized terminology for microscopy systems, while also addressing the progress of a manuscript related to protocol series. The team reviewed developments of the Nikon toolkit and discussed next steps for their project, including the sequential completion of camera work before moving to other detector types.
 

Meeting documentation

53rd meeting, 23rd of June 2025

Meeting date

23/06/2025 @ 5:00 PM (CET/CEST)

Meeting summary

Agenda

  1. Organizational matters and News
  2. Report from ELMI 2025
  3. Update on NBO-Q camera model & glossary
  4. Report from paper working group
  5. Next steps
Summary
The meeting opened with updates from SC and WG7 meetings, including a report from the NBO-Q camera model and glossary project.
Encouraging news was provided about Nature Publishing Group implementing reproducibility checklists inspired by QUAREP-LiMi’s work. These were mentioned in three recent editorials across major journals. However, concerns were raised as essential information is still missing.  A broader conversation on FAIR data sharing followed, highlighting the need to better recognize the cost and effort of data acquisition. QUAREP is encouraged to engage more actively in this direction.
Feedback from ELMI 2025 was very positive—QUAREP-led workshops were well attended and sparked interest among participants, many of whom were new to the initiative. This encouraged us to strengthen our outreach efforts for future international meetings, including next year’s ELMI.
Finally, the paper working group is drafting a publication outlining the foundation of the WG2 protocols. While initial writing has begun, broader input is needed. Future publishing plans for the automation tool and data samples  will depend on the setup of OMERO and collaboration with companies.
 

Meeting documentation

52nd meeting, 12th of May 2025

Meeting date

12/05/2025 @ 5:00 PM (CET/CEST)

Meeting summary

Agenda

  1. Organizational matters and News
  2. QUAREP-LiMi ELMI 2025 workshop contribution
  3. Report from OMERO subgroup meeting
  4. Update on NBO-Q camera model & glossary
  5. Report from paper working group
  6. Next steps

Summary

We started the meeting with discussing our summer meeting scenario. Due to a public holiday and ELMI 2025, we decided to shift our June meeting to June 23rd. In addition, we decided to skip the meetings in July and August to have time for finishing the camera model and glossary, work on the paper, and have time for vacation. We decided to start again with the regular meeting schedule on September 8th.
This summer meeting organisation was followed by a report from the May steering committee meeting. One great news for WG2 was that the SC endorsed the terminology “dexel” for the detector element versus “pixel” as picture element. Next, we briefly discussed the current status of our ELMI workshop preparation.
This was followed by a report from the QUAREP-LiMi OMERO subgroup meeting. A naming convention was introduced by that subgroup, which everybody needs to follow. We discussed how to implement our spreadsheet terms and how to best automate the upload to OMERO. The WG2 co-chairs will look over tags and naming structure for WG2.
This discussion was followed by an update from the NBO-Q camera model and glossary group. The stakeholder group finished working on the hardware part and will now continue with the settings. The plan is to be finished by the end of this summer.
The WG2 paper working group reported from their first meeting where they summarised paper-related content from our past meeting minutes.
We finalised the meeting with summarising the next steps: finalise the NBO-Q camera model and glossary, work on our paper and collect data for it, support WG7 in their work to calibration metadata, and generalise the automation of our WG2 protocols collection to have it eventually working on all microscopy platforms.

Meeting documentation

51st meeting, 14th of April 2025

Meeting date

14/04/2025 @ 5:00 PM (CET/CEST)

Meeting summary

After discussing possible scenarios for our WG2 work during summer, we reported from the SC meeting on April 1st. This was followed by a detailed report from the Annual QUAREP-LiMi Meeting that took place April 10th. The ELMI contribution preparation team reported the submission of three workshop abstracts. Approval was expected to be highly likely (by now all our submitted workshops have been accepted). The NBO-Q camera glossary team could report that the hardware part is finished! Next, the settings part will be tackled, but is not expected to take that long. The rest of the meeting we spend on collecting topics for WG2 to work on in the future: automation for our WG2 protocols, paper to accompany our WG2 protocol collection, collect data for it, NBO-Q model update for point detectors, amongst others. For each of these topics we need to find people to take the lead and define respective time lines.

Meeting documentation

50th meeting, 10th of March 2025

Meeting date

10/03/2025 @ 5:00 PM (CET/CEST)

Meeting summary

Agenda points

  1. Organizational matters and News
  2. Report from the Annual QUAREP-LiMi meeting
  3. ELMI 2025 workshop contribution
  4. Update on NBO-Q camera model & glossary
  5. Next steps

Summary

This meeting was a bit of a house-keeping meeting. After the report from the March SC meeting we briefly discusses our planned contributions to the Annual QUAREP-LiMi meeting. This was followed by setting up a time line and preparation group for organising our contribution to ELMI2025. Next, we had a quick update on the current status of our NBO-Q camera model and glossary project. We closed the meeting with discussing the next projects we need to tackle. We will first focus on preparing our paper and organising collection of data. We will also have to revisit our long-term goals as next big projects.

Meeting documentation

Memberlist WG 2