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Figure 1
Diagrammatic representation of electron detection on a modern cryo-EM direct detector. (a) Integrating (or linear) mode; in this mode, the detector acts in a similar way to old scintillator-coupled CCD devices. When an electron strikes a pixel (left), a so-called `electron event', the charge diffuses through the silicon (centre) such that multiple pixels are read out by the controller with a partial signal from each. This makes the image more blurred. (b) Counting mode; in this mode, upon an electron event the controller calculates the pixel with the greatest signal contribution and assigns all the `event' to that single pixel. (c) Super resolution mode; this is an enhanced version of counting mode, where the controller estimates where the electron first interacted with a pixel with sub-pixel (quadrant) accuracy via a centroiding algorithm. Adapted with permission from images on Gatan's website (https://www.gatan.com/improving-dqe-counting-and-super-resolution).

IUCrJ
Volume 13| Part 5| September 2026| Pages 589-605
ISSN: 2052-2525
https://doi.org/10.1107/S2052252526005348