Registax 5, DFK21 and debayering

[lukebl]

Hi all. Just acquired a DFK21AU618 planetary cam, and am whiling away the endless cloudy nights working out how to use it, and trying to understand the debayering process.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if you want to get a download rate of 60 frames per second, you have to use it at Y800 format, which basically leaves the debayering process to the processing software (i.e. not in the camera)? So, to get a colour image using this download rate you have to do something with debayering in Registax, otherwise you get a monochrome image? I really can't get to grips with Registax ver 6, so I use version 5. Can version 5 do the debayering, or will I need ver 6? Or will I just have to be content with a download rate of 30fps if I want colour images?

[Cornelius Varley]

V5 can do debayering. The option is hidden away in the tabs on the left hand side.

Peter

[cgarry]

Registax can do debayering but is uses the simple nearest neighbour method so I would not use it.

Firecapture comes with a nice debayer program or PIPP which I wrote can do it too.:

http://stargazerslounge.com/discussions-software/173325-pipp-planetary-imaging-pre-processor-software.html

Cheers,

Chris

[Willarnold]

As Peter says, version 5 will debayer. There are also some good forums (specific to astronomy) on the Imaging Source website.

Astronomy Cameras Support Forum

I've found them useful in getting the correct settings in IC capture

[lukebl]

Thanks all. Finally found the 'debayer' option in Registax 5.

[lukebl]

Just been having a play, and reading through a load of past threads on this subject, but still can't work out how you get the colour back if capturing it with Y800 codec. I have ticked 'Use debayer' in Registax but it still comes out monochrome. Can anyone enlighten me?

[cgarry]

For me, as soon as I click 'Use Debayer' the image displayed by Registax becomes colour. It sounds like you AVI is not raw data in a Y800 AVI file.

[lukebl]

Thanks gents. I think I've sorted it now. Not as difficult as I thought! Tried a couple of quick captures this morning in fairly poor conditions, and the colour seems to be OK now using Y800. Not the best Saturn and Mars images, and disappointingly not as good as my best webcam images, but my first of the season for either of them, and the first with the new cam.

[lukebl]

Sorry if this has been covered before, but can anyone explain why I'm getting this mottling effect with my DFK21 images. Is it something to do with the debayering? It was around 3000 frames captured with the Y800 codec at 60 fps.

[cgarry]

I have used Reg 5's built in debayer function before and it has never come out like that. I am not sure what it is.

Cheers,

Chris

[lukebl]

Here it is enlarged to show you what I mean. What am I doing wrong? Looks like it would have been a nice image if this hadn't happened.

[cgarry]

Is that just a plain stacked image or have any wavelets been applied?

[lukebl]

Is that just a plain stacked image or have any wavelets been applied?

That was the result after a bit of tweaking of wavelets, when I realised it was a lost cause!

[cgarry]

It is hard to tell what is going on from that picture, I am sure I have seen something similar with my own images but can not for the life of me remember what it was.

I could try stacking your video to see how it comes out, but sharing a file that large gets tricky!

[lukebl]

Going bonkers here! What on earth is happening? The images appear like they've been printed on canvas. Here's another example. I'm assuming it's something do do with my settings. I have tried with a variety of download rates from 15fps to 60fps and the result is the same.

[cgarry]

I have definitely had that effect myself. Did you equalise the R, G and B histograms for the capture? I vaguely remember it had something to do with that.

PIPP can equalise the R, G and B histograms prior to stacking which might help.

Cheers,

Chris

[Willarnold]

I get them as well!!!

My imagine looks fine when it's captured, then just like Luke's when it's processed. I use Registax 6.

My laptop is an XP Pro machine with 2GB of RAM, I use IC Capture, and it's happened with the Y800 codec

[lukebl]

.... Did you equalise the R, G and B histograms for the capture?...

No, I didn't think that was necessary, but I'll give it a go. Anyone else any ideas? The results so far aren't even as good as my webcam

[cgarry]

No, I didn't think that was necessary, but I'll give it a go. Anyone else any ideas? The results so far aren't even as good as my webcam

I am just grasping at straws really, I used to suffer from it then it just went away. For a while I was splitting the AVIs into R, G and B channels, stacking them individually and recombining them to produce the final image. This did solve the problem for me.

Then for some reason the problem just went away. Today I tried reprocessing some of these old AVIs with my current setup and the problem is just not there any more. I know at some point I removed and reinstalled all versions of Registax and played around installing different codecs as my Registax install would not handle AVIs directly. So I changed quite a few things and can not be sure which of any of these changes fixed the problem.

Cheers,

Chris

[melsmore]

Hi, there is information on this which may help in the Imaging Source FAQ. It has a tutorial on how to use debayering in Registax. See: Camera Hardware.

I've yet to advance past imaging the moon with mine. Hope it helps.

Cheers

Martin

[lukebl]

Hi, there is information on this which may help in the Imaging Source FAQ. It has a tutorial on how to use debayering in Registax. See: Camera Hardware.

I've yet to advance past imaging the moon with mine. Hope it helps.

Cheers

Martin

Thanks Martin. Useful link, but I've done all that and still get the same results. Currently having a go with version 6 of Registax to see if that helps.

[FrankieValley]

Hi Luke. Have you definitely got the camera settings set to capture in Y800 using the Y800 uncompressed codec (see screenshot)? These settings work for me and allow me to debayer in Reg v6.

I got my DMK a couple of months back and the drivers that came with, crashed the IC Capture software when selecting BY8 format. I installed the latest drivers and IC Capture from the Imaging Source and that resolved the issue. I was also getting odd behaviour in Registax before the new drivers, but that may have been my settings. Either way, ensure you are capturing in Y800 and using the uncompressed Y800 codec and install the latest drivers and IC Capture from Downloads | Support | The Imaging Source

[cgarry]

Hi Luke,

Have you had any luck getting to the bottom of this?

Cheers,

Chris

[lukebl]

Hi Luke,

Have you had any luck getting to the bottom of this?

Cheers,

Chris

Not yet. Been away for a few days so haven't progressed any further. There should be some clear skies later this weekend to have a further go at it.

I've definitely been using the uncompressed Y800 codec settings OK, and with the latest drivers. Might try Sharpcap, although that only allows a download rate of 30/s even when using Y800.

[cgarry]

If you grab an AVI that is quite short I could try putting it through Registax on my machine just to see if the problem is with the original AVI or the stacking software.

Cheers,

Chris