Opticstar PL-131 series. © Opticstar Ltd, 2021.
13
Updated: 07/09/2021
The camera can also operate in standard speed at half the frame rate but double the maximum
exposure time. In software applications such as Nebulosity, PHD Guiding, AstroArt and MaxIm
DL the camera operates at standard speed.
Region of Interest
When the camera operates in ROI modes, the
user can specify the region of data that will be
downloaded to the computer by selecting
Options > Video Capture Filter
under the
Misc
tab.
The four arrow keys in the
ROI
group can be
used to scroll over the sensor’s active imaging
area. The selected area is always in full resolution
but the camera operates at a higher frame rate.
Colour Synthesis for the PL-131C (colour model)
Colour synthesis is the process of creating a colour image from raw data. Scientific colour cameras
use a Bayer matrix on the CMOS/CCD sensor. A Bayer matrix is a series of micro-filters that are
placed on top of the sensor’s cells (pixels) in order to give it the colour information.
Dedicated astronomy cameras do not incorporate an
infra-red blocking filter (IR filter) and therefore
images tend to have a red bias. By capturing light in
the IR region, the camera can capture data that
normally would not be visible to the human eye. The
PL-131C does not incorporate an IR filter for this
reason.
On the PL-131C, colour synthesis can be adjusted
manually or automatically. Under the
White
Balance
tab, there are three slide bars that can be
used to adjust the relative strength each colour
channel: Red, Green and Blue (RGB). It is also
possible to let the camera perform the colour
balancing by clicking on the
One Push WB
button.
When the camera is set to operate at standard speed (by
Nebulosity
,
PHD Guiding
,
AstroArt
and
MaxIm DL
) it will
remain at standard speed until the user restarts Windows. Even
etEMACAP
and
View
will operate at standard speed until
Windows is restarted.
