Victor3™ Plate Reader From Revvity

The Victor3™ is a versatile plate reader that can be used to measure multiple labels. There are several different models of the plate reader, with slightly different specifications. It can read fluorescence intensity (from both the top and bottom of the plate), colorimetric absorbance and luminescence. Revvity maintain that this plate reader can detect all of the major non-radioactive counting technologies, covering all measurements typically performed with separate fluorometers, luminometers and photometers.

The strongest point of this product is, in fact, the breadth of assays that it can be adapted to conduct. I have personally used this plate reader with a range of detection methods including fluorescence (Picogreen dye, Alexaflour 488), absorbance (pNPP, Roche BrdU kit, Roche WST-1) as well as luminescence (Cambrex ToxiLight kit). The instrument features interchangeable filters, a heated plate rack that can be adjusted to the appropriate temperature, a built-in shaker and most of the bells and whistles expected of high-end plate readers. It can even be upgraded for high-throughput applications with the addition of a plate stacker dispenser module. The machine can also measure kinetic assays.

On the downside, the software bundled with the instrument is not entirely user friendly. Although the “wizard” helps make designing protocols easier, it is unfortunately very basic and users with more advanced needs will find the Victor3™ software frustrating. For example, the wizard allows you to select the wells you would like to read, choose a pre-programmed protocol and add any notes that you might want included in the results sheet. Changing such things as absorbance period, adding a shaking or incubation step or changing the absorbance wavelength for a particular protocol is not an intuitive process. However, if you do not require any variations in the conditions under which samples are read (i.e. you can use the pre-programmed protocols), or you are patient enough to learn the software, then this machine will perform well for you.

Another limitation of the software is that changing the filter wheels is not as easy as with other plate readers. This is a shame given the wide array of filters available for the machine. Ironically, this is not a hardware problem, but a software problem as tracking the available filters is unintuitive with the software provided.

One other unfortunate design flaw of the Victor3™ that would usually be overlooked by users shopping for equipment of this nature is the communication between the instrument and the computer. Unlike other plate readers which are “plug-and-play”, usually through a USB, the Victor3™ uses a more obsolete serial connection which means that it can only work with a computer with the corresponding serial port. Although this is not usually a problem as a computer is supplied as part of the deal, the instrument must be switched on before the computer is and programs such as screen savers are capable of cutting the connection between the reader and the computer. In a lab with multiple users, network logins and where the attached computer may be used for desktop purposes or web browsing, this can prove to be troublesome. To make matters worse, once you select the software, the period of time taken to establish a connection can be 30 secs or longer – definitely not “plug-and-play”. Worse still, the connection is not always guaranteed and you find yourself at the beginning of a lengthy reboot stage.

However, once the connection is established and a pre-designed program selected, the machine operates well. From my experiences, it appears to read reliably, with minimal well-to-well variability. It takes a wide variety of 96-well plates and can even be adjusted to read larger wells.

In short, while this machine is capable of conducting a variety of assays, there are models from competitor companies that are smaller, cheaper, easier and faster to use and generally better designed than this model from Revvity. However, the advantage of this model is the shear breadth of available assays, which may not be possible on other, less expensive models. If it is unlikely that you will need this array of measurement capabilities or if plate reading is not core to your research needs, consider a simpler model until your needs necessitate an upgrade to a Victor3™. Hopefully by then, the current limitations will be worked out.