What you’ve got there is a Leitz Wetzlar LATIMET, a vintage scientific image processing or analysis unit, likely used in conjunction with microscopes or line scanners.
Here’s a breakdown:
🔍 What is the Leitz LATIMET?
Brand: Leitz Wetzlar (German optics company, now part of Leica Microsystems)
Device: LATIMET – short for LATitude IMage Evaluation Tool, most likely
Era: 1970s–1980s
Purpose: A line scanner controller or analog/digital image analyzer, possibly used for:
Measuring density or contrast in microscope slides
Threshold-based edge detection
Digital output generation for research documentation
🔧 Key Features Visible:
Threshold and white level knobs – typical for analog video signal tuning
Line/image mode selector
Digital display window (presumably 7-segment LEDs behind the glass)
Calibration and channel selection
“dp” and “sb” switches – possibly for data processing and strobe functions
🧪 Use Case:
Most likely used in:
Medical laboratories
Biological imaging
Industrial material analysis
Photo-microscopy systems with digitization and measurement output
This would have been paired with a microscope and a camera — probably using line-scanning methods to
digitally evaluate images one strip at a time (hence the “line” vs. “image” toggles).
💡 Value?
Today it's a collector’s item or surplus lab gear — not worth a fortune, but of interest to retro tech collectors, Leitz/Leica enthusiasts, or people who refurbish scientific instruments.
