MAY 4 2026: APP 2.0.0-beta44 has been released !
New improved internal memory controls should now work on all computers
May 1 2026: APP 2.0.0-beta43 has been released !
Improved internal memory controls (much more stable and faster on big datasets), fixed CPU image viewer, fixed Narrowband extraction demosaic algortihms.
Apr 29 2026 APP 2.0.0-beta42 has been released !
New improved Normalization engine, Fixed random crashes in integration, fixed RGB Combine & Calibrate Star Colors, fixed Narrowband extraction algorithms, new development platform with performance gains, bug fixes in the tools, etc...
Apr 14 2026: Google Pay, Apple Pay & WeChat Pay added as payment options
Update on the 2.0.0 release & the full manual
We are getting close to the 2.0.0 stable release and the full manual. The manual will soon become available on the website and also in PDF format. Both versions will be identical and once released, will start to follow the APP release cycle and thus will stay up-to-date to the latest APP version.
Once 2.0.0 is released, the price for APP will increase. Owner's license holders will not need to pay an upgrade fee to use 2.0.0, neither do Renter's license holders.
Received warning below during integration.
"CRITICAL WARNING: flat-field calibration can not be performed correctly!
To be able to perform accurate flat-field calibration,
the provided flats need to be calibrated by either
- a MasterBias, of the same ISO/gain value as the flat frame, or
- a MasterDarkFlat of the same ISO/gain value and the same exposure time as the flat frame, or
- both "
I am using Bias data only. The bias and flat frames were both taken a a gain 75, offset 100. When I review the FITS header data the flats have both gain and offset. The bias frames only have gain.
Could the missing offset field in the FITS header cause this error? If it is can I manually add the offset field and data to the files?
I get the same warning. I am using Dark Flats captured with NINA flat wizard that captures the Dark Flats with the same settings as the Lights.
Received warning below during integration.
"CRITICAL WARNING: flat-field calibration can not be performed correctly!
To be able to perform accurate flat-field calibration,
the provided flats need to be calibrated by either- a MasterBias, of the same ISO/gain value as the flat frame, or
- a MasterDarkFlat of the same ISO/gain value and the same exposure time as the flat frame, or
- both "I am using Bias data only. The bias and flat frames were both taken a a gain 75, offset 100. When I review the FITS header data the flats have both gain and offset. The bias frames only have gain.
Could the missing offset field in the FITS header cause this error? If it is can I manually add the offset field and data to the files?
Dear Greg @gtdulaney,
Thank you very much for sharing your issue.
I understand correctly that you are using flats and bias, right?
Then the warning will appear if you are using multi-channel/filter mode in 1)LOAD and the bias/masterbias has not the same filter assignment as the flats. Can you double check that? You can see the filter assignment in the frame column in the frame list panel.
What happens if you disable multi-channel/filter mode, load the flats and bias and run calibration again?
Mabula
Link to example files...APP Flat Calibration
Dear Greg, @gtdulaney
Thank you, I have checked the data, the flat has incompatible dimensions with the lights and the darks, bias. The dark and bias have same dimensions as your light, but even the bias is different from the dark in the sense that the bias has no CFA indication in the FITS header, whereas the dark (and flat) have.
You can see that the flat has dimension 6240x4174, the other frames have dimension 6248x4176. So the flat can not be used unless you know how to change the image dimensions properly.
The biggest issue here is that the frames are created with different capture software. Issue like this are then very common especially with CFA/color data.
Light created with SharpCap v4.1.13332.0
flat created with N.I.N.A. 3.2.0.1046
dark created with SharpCap v4.1.13332.0
bias created with Sequence Generator Pro v4.4.1.1441
For proper data calibration and to ensure that everything goes as expected, you really want to to use the same capture software and even the same capture software version for all the lights and calibration frames. If you can change the image dimension of the flat to match with the others or vice versa, your issue will be solved.
Hope this explains it?
Mabula
I get the same warning. I am using Dark Flats captured with NINA flat wizard that captures the Dark Flats with the same settings as the Lights.
Hi @jhart,
Do your frames have the same dimensions? The same filters assigned in multi-filter/channel mode? And are you adding bias or darflats for the flats?
Mabula
Thanks for the through response.
I took additional flats the following night and integration worked very well. I was having software issues and used different app to capture flats that didn’t work.
New flats, APP for integration, light pollution correction and some Pixinght resulted in this.
APP had no issues integrating the data, where pixinsight WBPP failed.
Greg Dulaney
Hi Mabula,
I am using DarkFlats instead of Bias frames for the Flats. They have the same exposure, gain, bias, and binning as the Flats and the same reported dimensions. (While the Flats and DarkFlats have identical exposure times per each filter, the Lights are different). Even though I get the pop up warning the Flats seem to calibrate the Lights well.
The FITS headers for the Flats and DarkFlats have the filter used, exposure time, gain, binning, and sensor temp, but not the camera bias setting even though it is the same for all. Could the absence of the bias information in the FITS header be what is triggering the warning?
Thanks, Jeff
