did I pre-proc wrong?

[HadesZ]

 this is my first "test" run with my qhy10 and 22x600sec subs  (just to test to make sure ive got everything right on the CCD and such)
 
I did not us BPP
I integrated master dark and master bias
I Calibrated the lights with said Masters
I batch debayered the calibrated lights
I registered the calibrated lights
I integrated the registered lights.
 
end this is my result, on the left you see a STF of the raw registered, and on the right is a closer view of the image after I do Automatic Background Extraction (did ABE just to quick make sure things looked halfway right) and an STF
 
is this how my image is supposed to look? the right ABE | STF image has a wavey grain to it, and you can see a RGB rainbow'esc gradient through out the image in vertical orientation.
 
thoughts?

[Alejandro Tombolini]

Hi HadesZ, welcome to the forum. I would check the calibrated, debayered and registered image to see if there are hot pixels not correctly calibrated. If you use Blink tool you should see the pixels moving throught the image.
You may also want to dither during adquisition in order to ensure a better pixel rejection during image integration.
This processing example has more information about it.
Saludos, Alejandro.

[HadesZ]

Hi HadesZ, welcome to the forum. I would check the calibrated, debayered and registered image to see if there are hot pixels not correctly calibrated. If you use Blink tool you should see the pixels moving throught the image.
You may also want to dither during adquisition in order to ensure a better pixel rejection during image integration.
This processing example has more information about it.
Saludos, Alejandro.

thank you very much for the reply and the informative link. So i used blink took on my calibrated, debayered, and registers images and I can see the hot pixels moving around in the image.

I was dithering, but possibly not aggressively enough, I may have to bump my dither up a bit so my noise is moving around more?

but I still have my main problem, and that is in my final stacked image I have that wavey grain/noise. which it sounds like yourself and that supplied link are saying thats because I used the wrong Darks, but I didnt.  :/  my lights are -20c at 600sec, and my darks are -20 at 600sec.  so if this is the case, does that mean ALL that nasty noise and grain is just from not dithering aggressively enough?

No one has commented on the gradient of color in the background on the non ABE view. is this normal for most CCD's? im only seeing that gradient in my stacked image, in my individual lights they all have a green cast on them but its uniform and not multi-colored gradient.

I also ran into another quick question, I noticed in one of those videos an image view was layed over the other image view and the user was able to toggle back and forth between the two, and or make the top one semi-transparent, I am unaware of these tools! if someone could let me know the hotkeys or utility button for those tools that would be much appreciated!

Thanks again

[pfile]

look into CosmeticCorrection - sometimes what happens is that when PI optimizes the dark, it also attenuates the hot pixels. which means that they are not fully removed from the calibrated lights. because they are no longer strong outliers, they are not as easily rejected during stacking. so if you use CosmeticCorrection you can clean up all those residual hot pixels before registration and stacking.

an alternative is, since your dark durations match exactly to the lights, to just turn off optimization and take a look at the calibrated lights to see if the hot pixels are better removed.

rob

[Alejandro Tombolini]

Hi HadesZ, dithering help to have a better rejection during Image integration. Maybe what you are doing is enough.
In this case you have to also find the way to improve calibration, checking the calibrated images as Rob mentioned before.

I also ran into another quick question, I noticed in one of those videos an image view was layed over the other image view and the user was able to toggle back and forth between the two, and or make the top one semi-transparent, I am unaware of these tools! if someone could let me know the hotkeys or utility button for those tools that would be much appreciated!

Please, check this article which contains a full list of short cut in PixInsight. In this particular case the key is SHIFT, see this video which shows it.

Saludos, Alejandro.