Digital microscopes are microscopes without eyepieces. A digital camera acts as a detector. Images are displayed on a screen or monitor, turning the microscopy workstation into an ergonomic digital workplace.

For inspection, documentation, and analyses such as measurement in 2D and 3D as well as 3D topographies in surface metrology, they have become increasingly popular in production, quality control and quality assurance, failure analysis, research and development as well as forensics. Digital microscopes even have their areas of application in the life sciences.