CCD Control Plug-ins

CCD Control Plug-ins

For MSB Astroart 2.0 under Windows^TM 98, Me, 2000, XP.
Copyright 1998-2002 MSB Software. All rights reserved.

Version 1.0 for the Imperx^TM VCE video grabber.

LICENSE

This driver is copyrighted freeware. This means that this driver can be freely copied, but not sold or used as a separate product. This driver should be used only with Astroart software, by the owner of the Astroart license.
This driver is provided "AS IS". It's not guaranteed that it will work properly on all PCs and all video cameras and related hardware. This driver and its documentation are provided without warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including the fitness for every purpose. In no event shall MSB software be liable to you for any special, consequential, indirect, or similar damages, including any lost profits or lost data arising out of the use or inability to use this product even if MSB software has been advised of the possibility of such damages. Some jurisdictions do not allow the limitation or exclusion of liability for incidental or consequential damages so the above limitation may not apply to you. In no case shall the MSB software liability exceed the purchase price for the product. MSB Software will help to solve the most common problems related to the setup of this driver and the host PC, but it's not guaranteed that this driver is able to work on all systems.
If you don't accept these terms don't install the driver in the system.

INSTALLATION

Be sure that the VCE is working correctly with the bundled software, then copy the files d_vce.dll and VCE_Tools_VB.dll into the Astroart directory. Remember to install also a User Interface, available at our web site.

SETUP

Start Astroart and click CCD Camera from the menu Tools / Plug-ins.
Select the video standard (NTSC for America or PAL for Europe) then click "Connect" to open the video device.

Cut borders: Select how many pixels should be removed from the borders of the image, this depends on your video source.
Brightness/Contrast: Calibrate from -100 to +100. Deafult is zero for both values.
Long exposures: Select how to emulate long exposures. For example: if the exposure time is 10 seconds then the driver will sum (or average) many video frames to increase the quality of the image and reduce noise. To acquire just a single video frame select an exposure time of zero.
Monochrome input: Select this option is your source (videocamera) is a black and white device.
Color download: The image will be downloaded into Astroart as three frames (red, green and blue) but the flat field and the dark frame won't be corrected.

From the User Interface it will be possible to select two binning modes: "1x1 interlaced" and "2x2". The first one gives the highest resolution but cannot be used on fast moving object (example: planets) because the interlaced acquisition may produce artifacts.

HISTORY

2002/06/15: 1.0 The first release.

1998-2002 MSB Software. All rights reserved.
VCE_Tools_VB.dll. Copyright Imperx incorporated. All rights reserved.

www.msb-astroart.com www.msbsoftware.it
msbsoftware@tin.it