Z-contrast STEM using an annular detector can provide an
intuitively interpretable, column-by-column, compositional map
of crystals. Incoherent imaging reduces dynamical effects to
second order so that the map directly reflects the positions
of the atomic columns and their relative high-angle scattering
power. This article outlines how these characteristics arise,
presents some examples of the insights available from a direct
image, and discusses recent developments of atomic-resolution
microanalysis, direct structure retrieval by maximum entropy
analysis, and Z-contrast imaging at 1.4 Å resolution using a
300-kV STEM.