13.8.19

13.8.19 Rippled mask effect on ZWO in SharpCap

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Tuesday: A little sunshine in the late afternoon gave me a chance to look at the rippled mask effect again.

I have confirmed that: Rotation of the camera, PST filters and PST etalon have no effect on the mask.
This is actually positive news because it suggests that neither the camera nor any of the H-alpha optics are damaged. 

The mask is absolutely fixed on the SharpCap capture screen.
It shows no lateral, nor up and down movement with any telescope movement or degree of focus.

The mask is unaffected by any setting within SharpCap yet it appears only on the capture screen.

The type and size of monitor screen has no effect on the mask. The mask merely grows or shrinks to fill the space available. The relative scale to the image remains the same.

The fixed mask appears to lie just above the real image as if it were a "real" physical entity. A plastic or glass plate laid over the computer screen would have an identical appearance. Hence my use of the term "mask."

The mask is incorporated into all digital 'snaps' and astro camera stills and videos.
As if it were a real part of the image. This can make later processing almost impossible. 

The mask is most visible in RGB24 in red H-alpha light.

It does not seem to be directly affected by image brightness, gain or exposure settings. For example when clouds pass over the sun or clear the sun. The mask remains until too dark to be seen.

Not affected by chosen frame size, nor AVI or SER file selection.

Not affected by RAW8, RGB24, MONO8 nor RAW16 selection.

I tried the Neximage5 in the dying rays of the sun but saw only a ground glass effect.
Needs much more light and more time to confirm any differences. A tree intervened in the sun's path as I set up the new camera.

I need to try another capture software but the Neximage software doesn't recognise the ZWO.

Until now it was impossible to use FireCapture because of its complete intolerance of screen resolution and screen size.


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