The Intel Play product line, made by Intel, is a product line of consumer "toy" electronic devices. The other toys were the Digital Movie Creator, the Computer Sound Morpher, and the Me2Cam.
The Intel Play product line was discontinued on March 29th, 2002 when it was purchased by Tim Hall's holding company Prime Entertainment. Hall founded Digital Blue, which continue the Intel Play product line under the Digital Blue brand.
The QX3TM Computer Microscope was a product in the Intel Play product line and was continued in the Digital Blue product line. The upgraded QX5 model is available.
The QX3 is a small electronic microscope which can connect to a computer via a USB connection. It has magnification levels of 10x, 60x, and 200x. The microscope comes with software which allows a computer to access the microscope and use it to either take pictures or record movie. The specimen can be lit either from underneath or from above by one of two incandescent bulbs (3.5V, 300mA). The specimen platform is adjustable (like every microscope) to focus the image. The Vision CPiA (VV0670P001) is interfaced to a CIF CCD sensor, sampled at a resolution of 320x240 pixels.
The QX5 Computer Microscope is a Digital Blue product and upgraded the QX3 with multiple improvements, especially a 640x480 image capture device and brighter light source.