from Wittwer CT and Farrar JS (2011) in PCR Troubleshooting and Optimization

The first two commercial real-time PCR platforms were the ABI 7700 and the LightCycler. The LightCycler was initially developed through a small business NIH grant. The prototype, constructed at the University of Utah, integrated rapid temperature cycling with fluorescent monitoring adapted from a flow cytometer. Idaho Technology converted the prototype to a 24-sample instrument with a small footprint and simplified optics for commercial sale. In 1997, the system was licensed to Boehringer Mannheim which was subsequently acquired by Roche that same year. A 32-sample LightCycler was released by Roche in 1998 integrating rapid-cycling, SYBR Green I, dual hybridization probes and melting curve analysis (Wittwer and Farrar, 2011 in PCR Troubleshooting and Optimization).

The ABI 7700 was a large, plate-based 96-well instrument focused on hydrolysis probes.The 7700 used a 488 nm laser and fiber optics, in contrast to the light emitting diodes and epifluorescence optics of the LightCycler. Today there are many product offerings in the arena of real-time instrumentation. Competition has driven down the costs of instruments and reagents.