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Hi all I just got a new camera, the IMX571 based Altair Hypercam 26M. Upgrading from the ASI294MM (and other ASIs before), I noticed that the ASCOM settings (I'm using SGP) are different as compared to ASI settings. Does anyone has experience with the most optimal settings for narrowband and LRGB? thanks!  |
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hi Hans, I have a 26C (color) model. The underlying chip is the same except for the Bayer screen overlay. I use SharpCap for imaging (not SGP), which supports Altair cameras natively and can perform various analyses to characterize the sensor. One of the things SharpCap can do is a sensor analysis that determines read noise and dynamic range for different gain settings. I assume that Altair's ASCOM driver probably uses identical settings as their native SDK driver does? Perhaps SGP can also perform similar analyses to check? If not, the free version of SharpCap does support ASCOM cameras, so you could probably use it to test your ASCOM driver settings and see what the sensor analysis shows. Gain: -------- Here is the 26C analysis I ran today with a very recent version of SharpCap (4.0.9455). At least in SharpCap, it switches to the high-gain mode at 200, so running at a gain of 200 or a little more will give you the best dynamic range for the lowest read noise. I believe that is the equivalent of a setting of 100 in ZWO's software.  Black Level/Offset: -------------------------- I use an offset of 256 ADU. Here is a typical histogram of what my camera looks like, also obtained from taking sample dark and bias images in SharpCap. 256 is fairly conservative (I have room to the left), but 256/65535 doesn't sacrifice much range overall. I cannot tell exactly what the slider in your dialog box represents - if it is setting the offset in ADU directly or some percentage scale. You basically just want to make sure your histogram isn't clipped by the zero boundary.  Window Heater: ---------------------- The window heater is just to prevent frost on the window from in-direct contact with the thermoelectric cooler. I have always left it at the maximum setting (4) and never had any problem with it. |
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I have a 26C (color) model. The underlying chip is the same except for the Bayer screen overlay. I use SharpCap for imaging (not SGP), which supports Altair cameras natively and can perform various analyses to characterize the sensor. One of the things SharpCap can do is a sensor analysis that determines read noise and dynamic range for different gain settings. Hi Matthew, thanks for the info. I will give the sensor analysis a go. Meanwhile I've adjusted the black level (off-set) to 150; at this point the bias frames did not show any low count pixels anymore (you can see this in SGP, you get a minimum and maximum value). |
