This is mainly a bug fix release for the reported bugs in beta47. In addition it has a significant User Interface performance improvement noticable when you need to process 1000s of images in APP.
2026-10-03 APP 2.0.0-beta47 has been released !
This is a very big release... many code optimizations/rewrites, many parts of APP are much faster and more precise, especially star analysis and registration are much faster ! Big mosaics will go much faster 🙂
And we introduce a new preview filter, which includes the new Adaptive Deep Sky Stretch and a General Levels Stretch, this has been long over due. The old preview filter (the panel on the right side to stretch and preview your data) has not been updated for a couple of years and it is a critical part of any APP session.
Adaptive Deep Sky Stretch or ADSS is a much more intuitive stretch algorithm. It is also color preserving (which is a great new addition in itself ! ) which means that the highlights are no longer bleached, color is maintained from the linear data while stretching. You can simply stretch your data using the sky background level and signal width sliders which work much easier and more intuitive. You no longer need to fiddle with the old complicated sliders with zoom buttons. All the zoom buttons for the sliders are made redundant. And you can enter slider values in the slider value fields yourself. I will make a youtube video in the coming days to explain and fully introduce ADSS. Once the video is ready, it will be highlighted on the forum.
RGB Combine upgrade !. The RGB Combine Tool has been rewritten mostly. The tool is faster and easier to use and most importantly, the Luminance slider to inject a luminance channel or channels into the RGB composite is now working correctly. It no longer bleaches the RGB colors. Combined with the new ADSS preview, you will get much better and easier great composites with great color! I will also explain this in a new youtube video.
When I debayer the fit from my 1600 MCC Pro I get a large colored cross hatched pattern and the stars, etc. do not have color. I tried every debayer option. I am new to APP so just starting. Thanks
V 1.079. I reran the data and the plaid color went away but I still don't have colored stars. I must have changed a setting? Also, I had gain=0 in the photo per ASI recommendations. I read int his forum the gain should never be 0. Could this be an issue with the missing color in the stars??
When I debayer the fit from my 1600 MCC Pro I get a large colored cross hatched pattern and the stars, etc. do not have color. I tried every debayer option. I am new to APP so just starting. Thanks
There must be something odd happening with your data to produce such a result... I don't think it is related to debayering, that would give a different appearance...
Please share 1 or 2 lights with us and we will check what is happening and how to solve it 😉
I guess that a gain of 0 would give issues, I have never tried that myself.
So to get to the bottom of this, can you share/upload 1-2 frames with gain 0 and 1-2 frames with a postive gain value?
You are shooting with SGP pro, this means that you need to set the following:
0) RAW/FITS, force Bayer/X-Trans CFA , you will need to do this, because SGP Pro does not store any metadata to tell other software that this is Bayer data.
1) set the correct Bayer pattern for your sensor, I think this is GRBG.
I think you set that, right?
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Then the strange pattern in your stack, I don't see this in the single lights that you sent me, this is a strongly stretched light frame with background neutralization on:
Off course, we see vignetting, but I can't see that odd pattern.
I think that the pattern might be there in other light frames perhaps, maybe you shot some frames where something was actually blocking part of the light that was entering your telescope? Like a mask or perhaps a fence? Like shooting at the object just before it drops behind a fence ? Have you checked all of the light frames? Check the first ones and the last ones of the imaging session, perhaps that will explain it?
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Then regarding color, you are using a LPS v4 filter according to the SGP pro metadata ?
This is the same frame, but without background neutralization and only slightly stretched:
Look at the histogram, the red channel is very weak ! the LPS filter is really killing the red signal relative to the green and blue channels, that might be the reason that you are seeing no or very little color in your stars. A LPS filter like that, would probably only be useful to shoot luminance data instead of RGB data? Which LPS filter exactly are you using?
Regarding normal gain/offset values: the camera drivers should give you an option of possible gain and offset values, right? Like High Dynamic Range, unity gain etc...
I think that shooting with gain 0 is possible, that would be the High Dynamic Range setting. Have you set the offset as well?
I have an asi1600mm-c, so the monochrome version, and I shoot mostly with gain 60 and offset 20. But I have also shot with very low gain and high gains depending on the object and filters that I used. It should all be possible I think. I see very little difference with the gain 0 and gain 130 frames that you sent me. But... the gain 130 frames were shot with 300 seconds and gain with only 120 seconds. Gain 0 means high dynamic range, you can probably shoot 10 minutes per exposure with the LPS filter with gain 0 and then maybe things will look much better ;-). So 120 seconds exposure time with gain 0 just might be way too short to get some good signal above the noise levels with your LPS filter.
Unity gain on my 1600 MC is 139, but I know many that regularly shoot around 50 and just take longer exposures, I usually use unity gain 139, offset 21 and shoot 30 second exposures, for what that is worth
Thanks Tim - I am in a first ring suburb with bad light pollution. Phone app says bortle of 8. I have a max of 5 min lights to minimize background light issues. Â
