2026-10-09 APP 2.0.0-beta48 has been released !
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.
Hi,
I have a question about combining images taken by 2 different camera/telescope setups.
Which of both scenarios below, will give the best result in APP, or are there other constraints on the camera/telescope combination:
Scenario 1)
Two different camera/telescope setups which provide images with same FOV, but different resolution (pixelscale in arcsec/pixel)
eg: 2 different telescopes (different focal lengths) and 2 different cameras (different sensor size, different pixel size, a 16MP and 26MP camera), but such that 2 setups provide images with a nearly identical field of view, but with different pixelscale (arcsec/pixel).
This would mean that APP should do a lot of pixel interpolations.
or
Scenario 2)
Two different camera/telescope setups which provide images with same resolution (pixelscale in arcsec/pixel), but different FOV.
This means the FOV is the smallest of both FOVs, and the edges are cut off.
Which of above scenarios will lead to the best results in APP? Or are there any other constraints to make it work?
Thanks for your support.
Regards,
Steven
I think if resolution is what you want to retain, having similar resolutions results in a “better” image. Different FOV is no problem for APP, we’ve been testing the software with images from forum users and combining all those setups. Personally, I like to have the most signal, instead of the best resolution and that will depend more on the more sensitive setup.
@vincent-mod
Hi Vincent,
Thanks a lot for your feedback. First part of your answer is cristal clear!
But what do you exactly mean with preferring "the most signal, instead of the best resolution"? DO you mean that you don't care much about resolution and that you aim for identical FoV such that both series are overlapping and adding signal over the full image? Scenario 1 requires APP to interpolate a lot combining different pixelscale images with identical FoV, eg 16MP combing with 26MP and still the same FoV. Can APP deal with that?
So technically scenario 2 is the best "quality" solution (details, resolution) and works fine with APP.
But you would prefer scenario 1 to maximize signal. Right?
Kind regards,
Steven
Yes, APP can deal with that. What I mean is that the setup giving you the best signal over noise ratio, would be my choice to combine with. That will depend on the sensor, the F ratio of the scope, etc. Say you have a scope with high resolution sensor, but the entire sensitivity of the setup isn’t great, it wouldn’t produce a better result when imaging a nebula for instance. A low resolution, but with a very sensitive setup, would. An overlapping FOV is a nice second requirement to have as you wouldn’t need to crop the image a lot.
For galaxies, higher resolution would be very nice. So it depends a bit on the object. But personally I prefer the best signal.
