Image Control White Balance

Anything that doesn't fit into any of the other forums
Post Reply
TeddyH
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Apr 14, 2021 8:05 pm

Image Control White Balance

#1

Post by TeddyH »

I am using an Orion G21 camera. When I connect to SharpCap Pro the only listing I see in the
Image Control Panel is related to Timestamp. I am trying to set white balance sliders but cannot
find a menu listing. Haven't found anything to help in the Forum (newbie). Thanks
User avatar
Menno555
Posts: 1051
Joined: Mon Apr 20, 2020 2:19 pm
Location: The Netherlands
Contact:

Re: Image Control White Balance

#2

Post by Menno555 »

Hi Teddy

Did you install Orion drivers and also the ASCOM drivers?

Menno
User avatar
admin
Site Admin
Posts: 13122
Joined: Sat Feb 11, 2017 3:52 pm
Location: Vale of the White Horse, UK
Contact:

Re: Image Control White Balance

#3

Post by admin »

Hi,

if you are using an ASCOM driver then any colour balance controls will be inside the camera options window (look in Camera Controls - there will be an 'Options' line with a 'Show' button). What you get to see and adjust when you show the camera options is determined by the camera manufacturer, not SharpCap. For ASCOM, applications like SharpCap can only control a limited set of controls directly (really gain, exposure and cooling to be honest...).

If you are using a webcam (directshow) driver then the controls that appear in SharpCap are determined by the camera manufacturer - they can decide to make their webcam driver allow colour balance changes (in which case SharpCap will show the controls) or they can skip that feature.

cheers,

Robin
TeddyH
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Apr 14, 2021 8:05 pm

Re: Image Control White Balance

#4

Post by TeddyH »

Did you install Orion drivers and also the ASCOM drivers?

Yes I downloaded all drivers recommended by Orion, Thanks

Robin,

I did use the ASCOM Camera designation and you are correct in that:
"For ASCOM, applications like SharpCap can only control a limited set of controls directly (really gain, exposure and cooling to be honest...)."

This is exactly what I'm seeing. When you buy a camera like this and you are told it will work with other Apps through ASCOM, what you are not
told is that the functionality is VERY limited. Live and learn. Had I to do it over again I would get something like a ZWO camera.

So that brings up the obvious query: Will SharpCap support Orion Camera G Series in the near future? I am a big fan of SharpCap especially the tools like Sensor analysis, Plate Solve, Polar Align and LIVE STACKING!

Thanks ALL for your quick response,
Ted
User avatar
admin
Site Admin
Posts: 13122
Joined: Sat Feb 11, 2017 3:52 pm
Location: Vale of the White Horse, UK
Contact:

Re: Image Control White Balance

#5

Post by admin »

Hi Ted,

unfortunately there is no real prospect of adding direct support for Orion cameras to SharpCap at the moment. I wasn't even aware that Orion were advertising SharpCap compatibility for their cameras via the ASCOM driver until I went and searched for the G21. Flattering in a way that they think SharpCap is a selling point, but ASCOM is definitely limited.

For cameras that SharpCap doesn't support, you can usually work successfully using ASCOM for deep sky or live stacking - not being able to access the colour balance is not a huge issue as that can easily be fixed in post-processing. If there is also a webcam driver then that is usually the best choice for high speed imaging (solar/lunar/planetary) - you don't need high bit depths for that.

cheers,

Robin
TeddyH
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Apr 14, 2021 8:05 pm

Re: Image Control White Balance

#6

Post by TeddyH »

Thanks for the update Robin.

If you look at the Orion review for their mini 6.3mp camera Ken from Orion makes the point that he used SharpCap to test the camera because he was interested in SharpCap's new tool the "Live Stacking" functionality. That's what got me to you. Thanks again for your
help and honesty.

FYI: Carl Smith's site on YouTube talks about focusing his ZWO camera with SharpCap, he relied heavily on its capability to use your WB to work in conjunction with the Histogram functionality.

Teddy
Post Reply