ASI533MC Pro and Color Space

[Zerzura69]

Hi all,
please I have an ASI533 mc Pro camera (14 bit).
Have I to use RAW8 or RAW16 setting in SharpCap with FITS format file?

thanks

[admin]

Hi,

it's best to use FITS for RAW8 and RAW16, since some processing applications (like Deep Sky Stacker) do not properly process raw images in other formats like PNG or TIFF. You *can* use PNG or TIFF format if you want, and all the image data gets saved to the file, but it may be more of a challenge to process it correctly. You cannot use JPG, since the image compression will ruin the RAW pattern.

cheers,

Robin

[Zerzura69]

Robin,
Thanks for the answer.
I will use Deep Sky Stacker....
I will use FITS format file in SharpCap...
My great doubt is if with ASI533MC PRO (it is reported to have 14 bit) I have to use RAW8 OR RAW16 in Sharpcap.

Thanks a lot

[Menno555]

Hi

For capturing deep sky objects with longer exposures, RAW16 in general is the way to go.
SharpCap will also show a suggestion about that when your settings are for example RAW8 or RGB256 and you start to make longer exposures. It will suggest to go to RAW16 because that can hold more "info".

Menno

[admin]

Hi,

yes, the 533 sensor only has a 14 bit ADC, but with the ZWO cameras they all show as 'RAW16' or 'MONO16' regardless of whether the ADC is 12, 14 or 16 bit. You will get 16 bit data saved, but the lowest two bits will both be zero, so there are only 14 bits of information in each pixel. It's usually best to do it that way as the alternative means that the images from 14 and 12 bit cameras look dark and very dark respectively, which is an issue for new imagers.

cheers,

Robin

[Zerzura69]

Ok Robin,
Then I'll set "RAW16" in SharpCap.
Right?

Do you think Deep Sky Stacker will be able to handle RAW16 FITS files?

Thanks
Paolo

[admin]

Hi Paolo,

yes, RAW16 is correct. DSS will handle them, but there is a setting you have to turn on in the DSS options to tell it to debayer the FITS files and to also set which bayer pattern to use. See this post for a screenshot showing the relevant setting : viewtopic.php?p=4320#p4320

cheers,

Robin

[Zerzura69]

Thanks a lot, Robin.
Very useful!

Paolo

[TheAstrophotographer]

Robin,

I am trying to set the temperature to -10; however, I can only set it to -9 or -11. It seems that even numbers are not possible or likely I am doing something incorrectly. Would appreciate some guidance on how to update the temperature in SharpCap Pro 4.1?

Thanks,

Edmund

[AstroChessPilot]

Have you tried typing in -10 in the box where the -9 is?