How do I set up Sharpcap for additive binning
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How do I set up Sharpcap for additive binning
Hi I have an ASI2600MC Pro I'm using it with my Televe 101 refractor all is good. Next summer I plan to put my Orange C14 back on the mount and would like to software bin 2x2 or higher using additive rather than average binning to shorten my exposure times and make tracking easier.
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Jean-Francois
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Re: How do I set up Sharpcap for additive binning
Hello Chuck,
It depends on your camera.
Some camera allows the summation in place of simple average.
But note that the advantage of the average is that it produce no overexposure, if the starting image has no overexposed pixels.
That is not the case if you perform the summation.
Now it depends where the summation is performed. If it is "in" the camera, then it is still maximum 16 bits integer ... so risk of overexposure.
If it is in the software with floating numbers ... no risk of overexposure.
Jean-Francois
It depends on your camera.
Some camera allows the summation in place of simple average.
But note that the advantage of the average is that it produce no overexposure, if the starting image has no overexposed pixels.
That is not the case if you perform the summation.
Now it depends where the summation is performed. If it is "in" the camera, then it is still maximum 16 bits integer ... so risk of overexposure.
If it is in the software with floating numbers ... no risk of overexposure.
Jean-Francois
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Re: How do I set up Sharpcap for additive binning
Hi,
even if the binning is performed in the camera software SDK on the PC, the result is still coming to SharpCap in 16 bit form, so there will be clipping of pixel values if the total of the pixel values of the binned pixels exceeds 65536.
As far as I know, ZWO cameras only offer the option of averaging binning, but that really has no significant impact on the final outcome. Just use averaging binning and turn up the gain by about 120 (which will make the image 4x brighter and therefore give you results that are very similar to additive binning in terms of image brightness and noise levels).
It's important to remember that binning on CMOS cameras is far less useful than on CCD cameras - it can reduce the saved file size and (if it's done in hardware on the camera) it also increases the frame rate. It will increase the S/N ratio by a factor of 2 for 2x2 binning, but it doesn't gain the advantage of allowing shorter exposures as it does on CMOS where the actual charge is collected from multiple pixels before the A->D converter.
cheers,
Robin
even if the binning is performed in the camera software SDK on the PC, the result is still coming to SharpCap in 16 bit form, so there will be clipping of pixel values if the total of the pixel values of the binned pixels exceeds 65536.
As far as I know, ZWO cameras only offer the option of averaging binning, but that really has no significant impact on the final outcome. Just use averaging binning and turn up the gain by about 120 (which will make the image 4x brighter and therefore give you results that are very similar to additive binning in terms of image brightness and noise levels).
It's important to remember that binning on CMOS cameras is far less useful than on CCD cameras - it can reduce the saved file size and (if it's done in hardware on the camera) it also increases the frame rate. It will increase the S/N ratio by a factor of 2 for 2x2 binning, but it doesn't gain the advantage of allowing shorter exposures as it does on CMOS where the actual charge is collected from multiple pixels before the A->D converter.
cheers,
Robin
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Jean-Francois
- Posts: 826
- Joined: Sun Oct 13, 2019 10:52 am
- Location: Germany
Re: How do I set up Sharpcap for additive binning
Hello,
In one forum ... I found this:
"In addition, with CMOS cameras, I've seen two different ways of handling binning, either by summing and then dividing appropriately to yield a 16-bit result (ZWO) or summing and then truncating to yield a 16-bit result (QHY). At least, that is how things show up in Maxim DL. Because of this, binning gets more complicated and you may want to adjust the CMOS gain factor to give the best results."
So ... the intern calculation can be different depending on the camera brand.
For the camera binning ... in the past with the CCD detectors ... the binning was done in the chip just before the AD conversion.
For the most of the CMOS camera ... the full resolution of the detector is first read and then a binning is performed.
Sometimes as "hardware-binning", if the binning process is performed in the camera before transfer to the computer.
Jean-Francois
In one forum ... I found this:
"In addition, with CMOS cameras, I've seen two different ways of handling binning, either by summing and then dividing appropriately to yield a 16-bit result (ZWO) or summing and then truncating to yield a 16-bit result (QHY). At least, that is how things show up in Maxim DL. Because of this, binning gets more complicated and you may want to adjust the CMOS gain factor to give the best results."
So ... the intern calculation can be different depending on the camera brand.
For the camera binning ... in the past with the CCD detectors ... the binning was done in the chip just before the AD conversion.
For the most of the CMOS camera ... the full resolution of the detector is first read and then a binning is performed.
Sometimes as "hardware-binning", if the binning process is performed in the camera before transfer to the computer.
Jean-Francois