translation for a luddite

[a10ken]

Hi guys

Is there anyware on sgl that can explane to me what all the tech speak is when discusing imaging!. ie flats/masks/wavelets/ect ect.

being brought up on film this is a lott confusing. plane english would be nice.

ta ta for now

ken

[MjrTom]

Hello,

Yes it can be very confusing to the novice and still have a lot to learn myself.

A good place to start is the FAQ for one of the more popular stacking software programs which explains the purpose of lights/darks/bias etc.

DeepSkyStacker - Free

[ollypenrice]

Flats = photos taken of plain white nothing which should be likewise but aren't because of defects. Final image adjusted in the light of these defects.

Darks = noise from the camera measured and subtracted to correct the image.

Graphics programmes have zillions of tools for sharpening (wavelets, unsharp mask..) or smoothing (Gaussiaan blur, despeckle,...) and lots of other functions too numerous to list.

It is no different from any other trade with tools. Router, chisel, hammer, countersink rose...

The English is, to be fair, plain enough but the vocabulary is simply unfamiliar.

There is actually very little pretentious twaddle along the lines of 'methodology' being used to mean 'method' etc. which has infected some areas of academia including my own - ironically - which is English!!!

Olly

[a10ken]

thanks guys.

(confused but getting there slowly)

[Astro Imp]

Nice thread, often wondered about this myself but didn't want to show my total ignorance by asking.

[Adamski]

I also know nothing about processing images but i also have to learn the lingo so i can use Registax and sharpcap with my spc900.