· Get a Cloudy Nights T-Shirt · Submit a Review / Article Click here if you are having trouble logging into the forums Privacy Policy | Please read our Terms of Service | Signup and Troubleshooting FAQ | Problems? PM a Red or a Green Gu… uh, User You are not logged in. [Login] Entrance · Main Index · Search · New user · Who's Online FAQ · Calendar Astrophotography and Sketching >> Beginning and Intermediate Imaging Previous   Index   Next   Threaded   Pages: 1 MizOCU newbie Reged: 02/23/13 Amcap parameters dlpcap       #5698742 - 02/24/13 06:18 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   I have a Celestron 102SLT. (Best price/portability option for me.) I have an Orion Star Shoot IV webcam, with AMCAP. If you click on AMCAP from Start, About shows version 8.12. If you click on AMCAP from desktop icon, About shows version 9.01. Viewing various websites/blogs, re: AMCAP two keys are being able to manipulate Auto Control, on/off and ability to increase 'gain'. Those options are not available in the Video Capture Control settings on noted above version(s). Is this a function of drivers for Orion Star Shoot IV vs Celeston Neximage, e.g.? There are versions for download from various sites for 9.20 and 9.21. But, the couple I tried to install (after uninstalling 8.12/9.01) have a lot of baggage associated with them. I'm not necessarily concerned about paying for a reasonable price for an upgrade, but do these versions have the auto, gain options that everyone seems to recommend? Is there a clean website to download 9.20/9.21? Is there a workaround for 'gain'? (For planets, not the moon (ok), this seems to be important....) I also tried SharpCam which would not run after install, and WxAstrocapture and that did not seem viable, also (am running Vista). (Some people have more success with DSLR, but I can't find one that I can afford, at this time, that has the applicable t-ring adapter....) What to do? Post Extras:       ccs_hello Postmaster Reged: 07/03/04 Re: Amcap parameters dlpcap [Re: MizOCU]       #5698789 - 02/24/13 06:59 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Hi MizOCU Welcome to Cloudy Nights! AmCap actually is simply a "human user - friendly" graphic-interface program, which is wrapping around the underlying "device driver" capability (exposed as API form -- DirecTShow API or even older WDM API). In a direct term, Amcap cannot add what a Device Driver cannot provide, nor can it strip off what the Device Driver is providing. Thus the piece you should investigate/inquire is the Orion StarShoot IV Solar System Imaging camera. It's device driver that exposes its CMOS sensor's native capability. Probably either the Device Driver author felt it's unnecessary to expose the (detailed, deeper) chip capability (for simplicity reasons) or the sensor simply cannot do that (e.g., all automatic and not manually adjustable.) Since the imager is a Solar System Imager, I am not putting a lot of hope in it. Clear Skies! ccs_hello Post Extras:       MizOCU newbie Reged: 02/23/13 Re: Amcap parameters dlpcap [Re: ccs_hello]       #5699664 - 02/25/13 11:11 AM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   Thanks, ccs_hello. Is there alternate way to achieve 'gain' control using these available options? - brightness, contrast, gamma, hue, saturation, sharpness, white balance, exposure. Post Extras:       ccs_hello Postmaster Reged: 07/03/04 Re: Amcap parameters dlpcap [Re: MizOCU]       #5700328 - 02/25/13 06:01 PM Edit   Reply   Quote Quick Reply   There is no alternative way other than contact the vendor and insist that imaging device for astro applications need to have manual control option. "Auto Exposure" setting wouldn't cut it. Clear Skies! ccs_hello Post Extras:       Pages: 1 Previous   Index   Next   Threaded   Extra information 8 registered and 13 anonymous users are browsing this forum. 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