ZWO ASI color 224 default brightness and R/B levels

[pjwack]

Hi-
I've had read in other forums that the the default setting for brightness=100= no gain
and the Default WRed =55 WBlue 99 ( where 50= 0% gain).
1. Does this match your data?
2. Does Smart Brain adjust these settings?
3. Do you have any recommendation regarding if/how to adjust the brightness once exposure/gain is set?
4. I've noticed the auto R/B may or may not be all that great for a particular object. Any recommendations?

On another note
I have really enjoyed using your product. I have only been into astrophotography for a year, and never really used a camera and the traditional approaches. Using Sharpcap plus, believe it or not, the editing tools in the new MAC Photos...no darks, flats, etc., layers, etc., I have been able to produce images that people really enjoy (from a hugely light polluted zone)-- Probably anathema to the purists ) . Stacking really makes astrophotography accessible to a wider audience.

[admin]

Hi,

the ZWO SDK reports back defaults of 60 for the WRed and 99 for the WBlue. I strongly suspect that these are *not* the neutral levels but are a set that give a roughly reasonable white balance for normal usage, although I can't be sure. It would be best to take that particular question to the ZWO forums where you could get a definitive answer.

The brightness control is just what is called 'offset' or 'black level' on other brands of camera - it adds a constant value to every pixel when you turn it up. The brain *will* adjust this for you to make sure that your histogram peak is not touching the left hand side. The brain does *not* adjust white balance controls (and in fact it only measures the green pixels on colour cameras, which in the case of ZWO don't have a white balance).

hope this helps,

Robin

[pjwack]

yes- thanks. What is default for brightness?
Generally, I've found the RGB default to be better for brighter objects, but, otherwise needs adjustment.

[admin]

Hi,

default brightness really isn't important as brightness doesn't stretch or degrade the quality of the image data (except for saturating more pixels to the maximum value if you turn it up too high). The trick with brightness is to set the minimum level that separates the left hand peak in the histogram from the vertical axis. See https://docs.sharpcap.co.uk/2.9/#Using% ... %20Quality for more info.

cheers,

Robin

[pjwack]

thanks!