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.
My first clear night since October produced calibrated images with quality scores between 10 and 30. Isn't this amazingly low?? I seem to recall my 'good' images being scored in the 400 to 500 range.Â
I've made a few changes to my setup since my last session. Did I miss something? Or has the scoring system/values changed recently? I'd love to know how it's calculated, so I can try to troubleshoot it better.
(Didn't find the info in the FAQ or a search, so perhaps others are wondering too.)
My first clear night since October produced calibrated images with quality scores between 10 and 30. Isn't this amazingly low?? I seem to recall my 'good' images being scored in the 400 to 500 range.Â
I've made a few changes to my setup since my last session. Did I miss something? Or has the scoring system/values changed recently? I'd love to know how it's calculated, so I can try to troubleshoot it better.
(Didn't find the info in the FAQ or a search, so perhaps others are wondering too.)
Hi @cheetah , perhaps you can share an image ? So I can give you a proper answer. And please share the exact details of your optical setup (focal length, OTA etc..)
The quality scores are relative. There is no absolute score to indicate what a good score is actually.
The score is calculated with a special formula that consists of star density, noise and star shape.
Simply said, star density and star shape are relative in terms of imaging scale in pixels. If you register frames of different image scales, this will become clear.
In relative terms, frames with stars with a large FWHM value in pixels will get a low score. But it does not mean that the frames are bad, it could simply mean that you are shooting with a very long focal lenght.
Later today I will try to update this post with the exact formula 😉
Kind regards,
Mabula
Thanks for the quick reply!
I didn't finish the processing, since the scores are so low and I assumed there was a larger problem. The .fit files are too large to attach, so I don't have a way to show you an image right now.
I'm shooting with an ASI1600mc-p, on a 6" newtonian 750mm, with a mpcc coma corrector. Subs are 30 second unguided, from the edge of a small city. Nearly a full moon, but no light hitting the OTA.
If the weather holds, I'm going to attempt the same target and will try guiding. Maybe that makes more of a difference than I had thought...
I may have found the problem. My OTA needed collimating...badly... We'll see what happens with the next images I take.
