ToupTek Kamera ATR3CMOS16000KPA

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Yue.Gung
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Joined: Sun Dec 06, 2020 9:06 pm

ToupTek Kamera ATR3CMOS16000KPA

#1

Post by Yue.Gung »

Hi,

i am using this camera some days with sharpcap pro now. (3.2.6448.0)
I want to use the directshow driver, because the image format (4640x3506) with this driver is the same as some other astro software, i am using.
So i can share darks/flats and lights without problems.
The Touptek ASCOM driver saves a different image resolution (4632x3500), these images are not direct usable.

The use of the directshow driver has some restrictions, that i think are not founded in the driver,
but for some reason in sharpcap implementation of this camera.

For example in CAMERA CONTROLS the exposure time can only set in steps by 2x (4s 8s 16s ...)
If i open sharpcap IMAGE CONTROLS -> Filter options the exposure time can be set in steps by 1ms -> "xxxxxx.xxx ms". This addjustment should not be "hidden" in filters, but shouls be in CAMERA CONTROLS as for other cameras.

There are some more filter options, that could simply be shifted to the standard-interface:
- grey/color
- 8bit/12bit
- cooling on/off/temp

On the other side CAMERA CONTROLS -> quick picks ARE "empty" only with touptek direct show.

I would be very grateful, if this could be changed in a future version of sharpcap.

Thank you for your work,
Joerg Bo
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Re: ToupTek Kamera ATR3CMOS16000KPA

#2

Post by admin »

Hi,

unfortunately the limitations that you are seeing are fundamental to the way that the Microsoft DirectShow technology works - when Microsoft first introduced support for webcams about 20 or so years ago, they created a list of controls that the cameras could have and they also arranged that exposure could only be varied in steps of 2x. We still have to live with those same restrictions today when using webcams or astronomy cameras via their webcam driver.

The developers of the camera driver (ToupTek) are free to put whatever controls they want in the filter dialog, including fine control of exposure and extra options like grey/colour or cooling, but there is no standard way for those options to be made available to SharpCap.

Normally, if you have the choice between ASCOM and DirectShow the best options are as follows :

Lunar/Solar/Planetary high speed imaging - usie DirectShow to get high frame rates. Cooling and 12 bit not necessary.

EAA/Deep Sky (exposures >1s) - use ASCOM for everything (darks, flats, lights). You will have the full bit depth of the camera available and the option to use cooling, but frame rates will be slower.

hope this helps,

Robin
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