New TIFF , Fits features

[astronomiser]

Interesting, and some programs are using it per link from Cloudy Nights.

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/8154 ... ff-format/

FYI, Gary C. In Oklahoma

[admin]

Hi Gary,

yep, I have a post-it note on my 'to do' board with that on it

cheers,

Robin

[admin]

Hi,

just to let you know that a first go at this feature is in today's SharpCap 4.0 update. You need to turn it on in the 'Saving' settings page, since it is turned off by default to keep the risk of breaking anything as small as possible. I *think* I have the FITS header layout correct, so that even 'fussy' implementations should be fine, but it is a first go, so there may be issues. Feedback welcome.

cheers,

Robin.

PS. Any use having this info in PNG too?

[Menno555]

Robin

Did some testing with Folder Camera and the AstroTIFF seems to have the information needed. When I put the TIFF in SiriL and do a Read Metadata action, the coordinates are indeed being used from the TIFF.
This is the TIFF header according to SiriL:

Code: Select all

SIMPLE  =                    T / file does conform to FITS standard
BSCALE  =                    1 /
ROWORDER= 'TOP-DOWN' /
EXPTIME =                  600 / seconds
XPIXSZ  =                 4.78 / microns
YPIXSZ  =                 4.78 / microns
COLORTYP= 'RGGB' / Try GBRG if image upside down or R/B swapped.
BAYERPAT= 'RGGB' / Try GBRG if image upside down or R/B swapped.
BAYOFFX =                    0 /
BAYOFFY =                    0 /
XBAYROFF=                    0 /
YBAYROFF=                    0 /
FRAMETYP= 'Light' /
SWCREATE= 'SharpCap v4.0.8744.0, 64 bit' /
DATE-OBS= '2022-03-15T15:08:28.8538793' / System Clock:Est. Frame Start
DATE-END= '2022-03-15T15:18:28.8538793' / System Clock:Est. Frame End
DATE-AVG= '2022-03-15T15:13:28.8538793' / System Clock:Est. Frame Mid Point
OBSERVER= 'M Jansen' /
TELESCOP= 'Meade LX200 8" f/10 ACF' /
RA      =           149.336875 /
DEC     =     68.9617277777778 /
OBJCTRA = '09 57 20.000' /
OBJCTDEC= '+68 57 42.000' /
OBJECT  = 'test' /
INSTRUME= 'Loaded from fits file' /
END

One thing though: the size of the TIFF is not smaller than that of the FITS: the FITS file is 31.720 kb and the TIFF is 31.738 kb (so it's even a fraction bigger). As I understand it, the other reason for AstroTIFF besides the information contained in it, is that the size of the TIFF files will be (or can be) smaller due to the TIFF compression?

Edit: I don't know if this is as expected but no color is captured with TIFF. Tried also the Force RGGB option of the Camera Menu but DeepSkyStacker only sees greyscale and so the output is also greyscale and is has a blocked pattern in it.

Menno

[admin]

Hi Menno,

thanks for testing

so if you have saved a RAW image to TIFF then you would expect to get monochrome + blocky view of it in other applications until you tell them to debayer. There are *very* few applications that auto-detect the bayer pattern correctly from FITS, so I am not surprised that they are not picking it up automatically from TIFF.

TIFF can be smaller, but compression is turned off by default in SharpCap, as some apps cannot read compressed TIFF. The option to turn it on is on the same page of settings as the AstroTIFF one.

cheers,

Robin