Improved Usability Research and Negation/Four Way Compare Feature Classes Change Detection Display by Scale Mosaicing

Print Presentation Templates Improved Zoom Region of Interest Cursor Tracking Save IP Settings Object Management

At first glance, usability improvements are readily apparent. While adding more functionality could increase the complexity and usability of ELT, the UI (User Interface) was carefully redesigned to integrate new and existing features all while maintaining ease of use. Docked to the left side of the ELT Window, The Explorer now has several new tabbed items including POI (Point of Interest), Cursor Tracking, Symbols, and Counters making this an indispensable command center. Drop menus have been introduced to reduce UI clutter. ELT offers more than visual improvements alone. In an on going effort to improve performance, the architecture was completely redesigned.

*New in Release 3.0 With this latest release it is even easier to track changes to a particular place of interest. Prior to 3.0, a separate Compare Document had to be created to perform compare operations. Now, image comparison operations are available via the Geo Document so you can analyze temporal imagery from overlapping geo referenced areas without having to create a separate Compare Document. In addition, this new release now has Four Way Compare so you can display four images next to each other in quadrants.

The Four Way Compare is easy to enable and operate. First you create a new Geo Document and then use ELT’s Explorer to import all the imagery you wish to review. This imported imagery, which may be from multiple sources, dates and times, will then be brought into the Geo Document and neatly organized as separate image layers. Additionally, you may add one or more graphics layers as overlays, allowing you to create annotations and points of interest for tracking and reporting purposes. These graphic layers can then be exported as a shape files to be shared with other users and applications or saved for later use with other documents.

The Four way compare does not limit you to using just 4 image layers. Other Image layers within the Geo Document can be sequentially swapped into the compare operation by selecting the Next and Previous Image buttons from the Compare Toolbar. Essentially the Next and Previous buttons allow you to loop through all image layers located in the Geo Document. Using the ELT Explorer you may add and remove images layers to quickly isolate pertinent information from the list of image layers and discard the resulting superfluous image layers from the Geo Document.

Once you have narrowed your image selection, you can choose the Blend, Wipe, Flicker, Left/Right, Top/Bottom or Color Queue compare operations to further extract information. ELT/5500 version 3.0 has expanded and renamed the previous Side-by-Side compare operation to Top/Bottom and Left/Right. This is the process of displaying two images in a split screen view and locking them together. As the user scrolls, zooms or rotates the images will stay in-synch allowing for easy point to point comparison. Whether you need to report suspicious activity or identify environmental changes, ELT/5500’s enhanced comparison operations is a convenient and essential tool for the imagery analyst.

*New in Release 3.0
ELT now supports Vector Product Format (VPF) and Microsoft Access in addition to Shape format previously supported. These databases are a collection of feature classes which include keys and values to represent vector objects. The metadata associates these vectors with real world objects, such as roads, cities, states, etc. ELT supports three vector.

With this latest release, you can share, query, create and customize vector databases with ease. Whether making feature classes using ELT, or use existing feature classes that come with vector databases, ELT provides all the tools you need in one application by combining powerful geospatial data with image processing capability. The feature classes can be saved and imported for later use. Data can be queried from multiple feature classes to extract specific information. The results can then be color coded by using set themes.

Creating a Feature Class
When working with annotations using ELT, you can create and assign feature classes to your objects. Creating a feature class is easy. Once your graphic is complete, right mouse click to select the metadata tab from properties. Name the feature class and add attributes or keys to describe the feature class.

Powerful Querying Capability
Large databases can slow performance. Instead of loading all available data, ELT allows you to perform queries to acquire only the information needed. With ELT you can create a data source to query information from a shape, VPF, and access objects. The datasource can be set to one file or multiple files located in a directory. Once a datasource is created, you can choose from the available feature classes found in the vector databases to perform a query.

Set Themes
Prior to version 3.0, attribute adjustments could only be made per object. This could be time consuming when making changes to several objects. ELT/5500 now allows you set attributes by creating themes for each feature class. Further, you can set perimeters based on range or value from within a feature class.

A compare document allows you to compare two images regardless of the perspective, format, resolution, and overall size of the image. This is helpful when detecting changes over time or overlaying maps of an area. Prior to version 2.0, an image comparison could not be saved. Now with the new release, you can save a comparison so you no longer need to recreate the comparison each time. This is particularly helpful in the event you need to plot tie points to make a comparison.

*New in Release 3.0
Geo documents that contain many vector and image layers at varying scales can be unwieldy and lead to performance delays. Until now all data displayed regardless of whether it was pertinent or visible at the scale in which you were viewing the document. With ELT/5500 you can use Display by Scale to show and hide data only when appropriate resulting in greater performance.

For example, street and building shouldn't be rendered when zoomed out to view an entire continent. Instead, users can select layers and choose to display data within a predefined scale range such as Street Level or customizable range to suite your needs.

Using the mouse point zoom, you can zoom in to view country, state, region, city, street and buildings. As you zoom in and out, data will show and hide depending on your screen resolution and contents. To see an example of the Display by Scale using mousepoint zoom, select the Example link. You will need to install Flash Player available for free from Macromedia to view this example.

Tired of tedious preparation to simply create and print a report? With ELT/5500, you can adjust zoom levels, rotate, and move the view area via the template view. You no longer need to alternate between the image and print preview template to get the report to look exactly as intended. In addition, multiple templates can be used for a single image. Templates are easily saved, organized, and customized using the Layers Manager. Whether you want to change attributes or have several print templates saved for future use, ELT makes reporting easy.

With ELT’s virtual mosaicing, you can piece together 1 or more ortho-rectified images into a single composite image. ELT can work with different file formats, image resolutions, and number of bands to create a mosaic with ease. Provided the datum and projection data is available, you can review a large geographic area quickly to gain a macro understanding of a region. ELT also offers clipping which is useful when working with a large geospatial area. By clipping an image, you can reduce the file size to optimize performance.

ELT has more to offer under the surface. The virtual memory manager has been fine tuned for superior roaming performance. Poor image rendering such as flicker and jitter can lead to eye strain. Significant effort has been made to reduce these problems. ELT allows users to focus on gathering pertinent information from the imagery than being distracted by poor image rendering and roaming performance.

ELT’s popular chipping functionality has been added to the Zoom Window for convenience. You will no longer have to return to the image, draw a ROI, and then chip the desired zoom location. Users can right mouse click from the Zoom Window to Chip, Chip to New File, and Chip to New Document. In addition to the chipping option, users can adjust zoom levels by right mouse clicking on the Zoom Window to view different magnification levels. With release 2.0, additional zoom levels have been added.

Until now, only one saved Snail Trail could be viewed in the Pan Window at one time. With this latest release, multiple Snail Trails can be merged into the Pan Window making it easier to see which locations require investigation.

A cursor position can be saved to return to a specific region when frequent observation is required. Once a position is saved, the location can be selected from the Geo Cursor Position pull-down menu. This feature is useful when reviewing multiple locations within one or more documents. As new data is imported, the saved points can be used to automatically navigate to the exact geo position making it easier to review new data pertaining to a specific region. The saved points can be saved as a shape file which can be shared with different files as needed.

Users can create a ROI of the active window without having to draw a ROI. If you prefer to draw the ROI, mensuration can be used to extract a specific size in feet, meters, miles, yards and nautical miles when using geo referenced images . ROI sizes can be saved to use at a later time. In addition, objects can be including when chipping a ROI. Text and graphic objects can be chipped as a layer or burned in. Display level processing and the default headers can be included when chipping a ROI.

Images with varying degrees of contrast and brightness may require several different IP (Image Processing) settings to extract information from a particular area of interest. Now IP settings can be saved so you have the advantage of quickly switching from IP setting to another depending on the region of the image to review. It should be noted that saved IP settings does not change the image, but merely provides a visual tool to help see more clearly. When finished, you can reset the settings to return to the original image. Saved settings are not restricted to the current working document. Once a setting is saved, you may access your favorite setting from the Image Processing menu bar. This is particularly useful when working with multiple images requiring similar IP settings.

Properties are available for standard objects and geo-referenced images. The property of an object allows you to change object display as well as resize and reshape an object. This latest released includes a neatly organized tabbed palette so an object property selection can be made quickly and easily.