New Year feature release of AstroDMx Capture
Mutatis mutandis
AstroDMx Capture now supports the new SVBONY SV905C planetary and guiding camera on all Operating systems including Chrome OS.
The following Changes have been made.
- The SDK issue for x86 64 Linux has been resolved by SVBONY, which means that the SV905C camera is now supported in AstroDMx Capture for Linux (including the Raspberry Pi and Chrome OS) in addition to the Windows and macOS versions.
- Another SDK issue for all operating systems means that for the moment, the SV905C only works correctly in 8-bt mode for planetary type imaging.
- A button enabling automatic display stretching for 16-bit data to be turned on and off has been implemented. Previously, this was on by default. However, when capturing very short 16-bit exposures, the automatic stretching caused the preview to appear very bright and/or apparently noisy. This also enables easier combination of some of the 16-bit controls.
- The dew-heater control (when present) has been relocated to a better position in relation to the cooling function control (when present)
- Binning issue resolved.
It is interesting that so far, the only astronomy cameras that we have found to work with Chrome OS are the SVBONY cameras:
- SV305
- SV305 Pro
- SV305M Pro
- SV905C
As Chromebooks are in general, less powerful than other computers, having slower central processors, less RAM and less storage (apart from the very high end Chromebook models); the SV905C camera may be a better choice for planetary, lunar or solar imaging with a Chromebook as it produces an image of only 0.6 the size of those produced by the SV305 family of cameras and may achieve a better frame rate.
AstroDMx Capture can be downloaded freely HERE
