Pixinsight Mosaic 64 bit?

[mackiedlm]

When I  have built a mosaic in pixinsight by default it saves as a 64 bit .xisf and I have read in various sources that 64 bit is best for mosaics.

But of course that means a very large file size for further processing.

So, what are the benefits of working in 64 bit compared to 32 bit and what would I lose if I saved the mosaic as a 32 bit .xisf before further processing?

If you can keep it simple without too much math I'd appreciate it

[vlaiv]

Absolutely no advantage in using 64bit float point format over 32bit float point format for astro images - only drawbacks - slower computation, more memory usage and so on.

[mackiedlm]

Fantastic , thanks for the quick and clear reply @vlaiv. You have just saved my computer from a serious nervous breakdown!😃

 

So a follow on question if i may be so bold- why then does PI default to 64 bit as soon as I've built a mosaic?

Edited November 13, 2021 by mackiedlm

[vlaiv]

4 minutes ago, mackiedlm said:

So a follow on question if i may be so bold- why then does PI default to 64 bit as soon as I've built a mosaic?

I have no idea

I don't use PI, nor did I help make it so not really in position to answer that.

I do however have firm understanding on numeric formats and why they should and should not be used.

[mackiedlm]

Ok, thanks so much for that, I really appreciate it. One of lifes great mysteries then. 😁

I wish I had even a loose understanding of such things but I'm a biologist so no hope!

Thanks again @vlaiv