Reason for frames being dropped?

[Moonstruck]

Hi,
As I was imaging Jupiter last night I noticed that a lot of frames were being dropped during capture. I have an asi 224 planetary camera, and had Sharpcap set to high speed, RAW8, and turbo USB. I am not sure if it was a computer storage issue, but I think there was sufficient space. Any idea what could have caused that? Are storage issues sometimes to blame for dropping frames? What are typical reasons for frames being dropped, and what do you think the most likely cause was? Lack of storage, cables, hardware, Sharpcap settings, etc?

Note - when I tried to process the video that I thought it had at least partially captured, I noticed that it had only captured many single frame PNG files (it didn't capture a SER video). I am almost positive that I had it set to SER during capture. Any idea what could have caused that?

[admin]

Hi,

so if you are only seeing dropped frames during capture then the cause is very likely to be the fact that the images cannot be written to your computer disk as fast as they are being captured. SharpCap does use memory to buffer the images, but after a while all the memory fills up and frames get dropped (you can allocate more in SharpCap Pro if you have lots of memory on your computer).

Writing to individual PNG files will be much slower than writing to SER, so that will most likely be the cause of the issue here.

Why did you get PNG files unexpectedly?

* If the output format is set to 'Auto' then SharpCap will switch to still images if the exposure is set bigger than 2s, but will set back to video when the exposure goes back below 2s
* If the camera is in 'still mode' rather than live view then you will get still images not a video
* If you loaded a capture profile then it may have had the output format saved in PNG
* If you run the sequencer then the sequence may change the output format

Those are the only things I can think of that would change the output format 'behind your back' or unexpectedly. Not sure if any apply in this case.

cheers,

Robin

[Moonstruck]

Thanks. As for the frames being dropped, would it help if I didn’t use turbo usb, or high speed?

[turfpit]

would it help if I didn’t use turbo usb, or high speed

Have a look at viewtopic.php?t=2590. Try out the different settings systematically and be confident that you are in control of your equipment and understand its limitations. The tests can be done in the house during the day.

Dave