Removing the Bayer filter on a OSC cam?

[x6gas]

OK, so I have nearly decided on my planetary cam purchase. With advice from here I have decide on something with the Sony 618 CCD chip.

I've been wrestling with the Mono vs one shot colour question. It's tricky for me as I already have a filter wheel and filters for my deep sky stuff, but I'm still tempted by the ease of use of OSC and I think that's what I am likely to go for. Having read up on it (and boy are there strong opinions about mono vs OSC) apparently the extra senstivity of the mono cams is less of an issue for planetary and so the balance is different than for DSO imaging.

Anyway, hopefully someone can answer a simple question: If I go for a colour camera, is it possible to convert it to mono by simply (!) removing the Bayer filter, or ain't life that simple? I know that there is interpolation of the Bayer matrix but not sure if this is done in firmware or software so assuming that it is possible to physically remove the filter does the interpolation cause any problems?

I realize that even if this is possible it will be a one-way process...

Thanks for any info or thoughts...

Ian

[AstroTux]

I am not sure if this will help, but colour or mono is normally a function of the CCD chip within the device. The Bayer filter appears to be part of the hardware in a colour CCD. It is the interpolation of the Bayer filter that is done in software/firmware.

As an example, the SPC900 can be used in colour raw mode which provides mono images that then need to be 'de-bayered' to achieve colour. All the raw mode actually does is stop the interpolation of the Bayer matrix ( in other words it does not average out the values according to the values of neighbouring pixels ), thus giving a proper level for each pixel within the device. This is the reason for needing to 'de-bayer' as there are three sets of data, one for each of the matrix colours.

As I say, not sure if this will help as I am trying to understand this process fully myself.

[Merlin66]

The bayer matrix filter elements are an integrated part of the CCD chip. They cannot be removed to make a mono chip.

Such is life.

[x6gas]

The bayer matrix filter elements are an integrated part of the CCD chip. They cannot be removed to make a mono chip.

Such is life.

That's the answer I needed (and suspected). Thanks Merlin.

Ian