1. A method for using an image sensor to obtain an image of a specimen focused thereon, such that the resolution of the image obtained is greater than the designed resolution of the image sensor, the method comprising the steps of: placing a specimen onto a known background of known bit depth values within the field of view of an image sensor having multiple pixels; focusing the specimen onto the image sensor in a first position relative thereto such that the known background of known bit depth values is also focused on the image sensor; recording an image of the specimen and the known background of known bit depth values focused on the image sensor in the first position and establishing a specimen region and background pixels from the image recorded; moving the specimen to a second position relative to the image sensor so as to place a first portion of the specimen region within a target background pixel chosen from said background pixels established in said step of recording; recording an image of the specimen and the known background of known bit depth values focused on the image sensor in the second position; and calculating the bit depth of the portion of the specimen region moved into the target background pixel in said step of moving the specimen to a second position.