Omegon 385C - Slow frame Rate

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Tommohawk
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Omegon 385C - Slow frame Rate

#1

Post by Tommohawk »

Hi. Hoping for some help with this - I just bought a new Omegon 385C and have tried it both with the supplied Software and Sharpcap. The bundled software isn't bad, but has quite a few niggles (no histo, no log, doesnt store user defined capture folder + few other things.)
If I hook up with Sharpcap with direct show, I get fair frame rates, though not quite as advertised, and no ROI option.
If I use ASCOM I then get ROI options, but very slow rates - maybe 2 FPS instead of 80+.
Something is adrift but I cant work out what - any thoughts anyone?
BTW I have SSD USB3 and 8GB RAM - normally I get insane frame rates with my ASI290 - exactly as per manufacturers claim.
I tried setting the memory/High Speed frame cache to max which was 2056MB, though oddly this increased to 3016MB after doing the speed test. I have the Pro license so would expect this to be 4 GB?
Live stacking and display wont go above 1024MB, although it did before the speed test. Not sure what thats all about.
Speed test in filenames Tag gives ~330 FPS.
Whatever I do I'm stuck between 0.5 and 2 FPS when using ASCOM
Must be something simple - hopefully - can someone advise please?
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Re: Omegon 385C - Slow frame Rate

#2

Post by admin »

Hi,

Unfortunately Ascom isn't really designed with speed in mind, so lower frame rates are almost inevitable. Two points are worth noting though – firstly Ascom will probably be running the camera in a higher bit depth mode which tends to half the frame rate. Secondly the initial exposure for an Ascom camera is one second, which will limit the frame rate to 1 frame per second. You may get a higher rate by lowering the exposure.

Direct show is much more capable of achieving high frame rates, but can't operate in high bit depth modes. Normally the combination of having the two options available is sufficient – if you want to take longer exposure images for deep sky then you want to use the high bit depth, so you'll use Ascom and the lower frame rate probably won't bother you if you are taking 5s + exposures. If you are doing planetary/lunar/solar imaging then you want high frame rates but you don't need the high bit depth, so you can use the direct show driver.

Cheers, Robin
Tommohawk
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Joined: Thu Sep 28, 2017 10:57 am

Re: Omegon 385C - Slow frame Rate

#3

Post by Tommohawk »

Hi Robin

Thanks for the reply. Re ASCOM connection theres no way the frame rate goes above about 2 FPS however short I make the exposure. Even with just a few ms.
When I connect using ASCOM theres a window for settings and I choose bit rate as 8 bit. So that shouldnt be limiting things. Looks like ASCOM just cant do this.

Direct show connection is better for frame rate - but then I have no ROI selection under "Capture Area" (as I do with my ASI camera) which I definitely need. That said under Image Controls / Filter Option/ I get another dialogue box with tabs including ROI. But there doesn't seem to be any way of actually implementing the ROI selection.
I cant see a way of showing an image here so not sure if you can figure out what I mean.

It's pretty disappointing that I cant use SharpCap - the manufacturers ie Omegon say it's compatible. BTW I only need planetary, not DSO - so long exposure not a requirement

Any further ideas please?
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Re: Omegon 385C - Slow frame Rate

#4

Post by admin »

Hi,

If you want to attach a screenshot here then look below the box where you are typing your message and you will see two tabs labelled 'options' and 'attachments'. You can go to the attachments tab and upload an image file, then use the 'place in line' button that will appear to put it in the message.

ROI for direct show cameras is usually handled by choosing a smaller resolution from the resolution drop-down and then hopefully the direct show driver will offer pan and tilt controls which SharpCap interprets as being able to move the ROI around. Unfortunately support for this comes from the direct show driver rather than from SharpCap, so if there are no lower resolutions listed (or if as sometimes happens the lower resolutions give you a reduced size image rather than an ROI) then you may well be stuck.

Cheers, Robin
Tommohawk
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Re: Omegon 385C - Slow frame Rate

#5

Post by Tommohawk »

Thanks for your reply Robin - found the attachments option - right in front of me of course!

First image is main screen with Image controls.
main screen.jpg
main screen.jpg (189.06 KiB) Viewed 2635 times
If I select Image controls/Filter Options -Show, I get second image.
Filter options, show.jpg
Filter options, show.jpg (49.43 KiB) Viewed 2635 times
Then select ROI tab and I get image 3.
ROI.jpg
ROI.jpg (142.01 KiB) Viewed 2635 times
I can alter the size position of the ROI but i cant find any way of actually applying it. Clicking OK doesnt do anything and Apply is greyed out. Am I missing something...?
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Re: Omegon 385C - Slow frame Rate

#6

Post by admin »

Hi,

Does the resolution drop-down on the right-hand side in SharpCap offer any other (smaller) options than the default 1920 x 1080? If it does then try choosing one of the smaller options to see what happens. Also there may be an additional dialog available from the options menu in SharpCap that is titled something like 'Video Capture Pin' - that would normally be where you would expect to find any controls that affect the resolution of the camera, so maybe worth a look.

Cheers, Robin
Tommohawk
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Re: Omegon 385C - Slow frame Rate

#7

Post by Tommohawk »

No, there are no other resolutions offered, only the default full frame. If I attempt to set the ROI in the dialogue box I mentioned this makes no difference - no other resolutions appear.

Options / Video capture PIN shows this box... so no other options by the look of it. Any other ideas?
video options PIN.jpg
video options PIN.jpg (27.92 KiB) Viewed 2620 times
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Re: Omegon 385C - Slow frame Rate

#8

Post by admin »

The only thing I can think of at this point is to go back to the camera manufacturer and ask them how the ROI is supposed to work. The fact that it is there but does nothing does seem to indicate perhaps a bug in the direction driver.

Cheers, Robin
Tommohawk
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Re: Omegon 385C - Slow frame Rate

#9

Post by Tommohawk »

Hi Robin
OK I'll try that. It doesn't really seem right that the manufacturer's say the camera works with Sharpcap when it really doesnt, at least not properly so far as planetary is concerned.
Is there any chance that you may integrate the SDK in the same you have with ZWO for example? That would presumably resolve the problem.
regards
Tom
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Re: Omegon 385C - Slow frame Rate

#10

Post by admin »

Hi,

I'm afraid I'm not really looking for any more brands of camera to support at the moment. There are just so many small brands popping up at the moment, and they all take the same amount of effort to add regardless of how big or small the customer base is. I think I could probably easily spend most of my time working on that sort of thing and never get any core features or bug fixes added to SharpCap :(

I agree that the camera manufacturer/distributor has been a little cheeky in the way they've described their camera as working in SharpCap. Strictly speaking true, but not to its best abilities.

Cheers, Robin
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