Hi all,
Yesterday we released updates for the standard ImageRegistration and Geometry modules with new versions of the StarAlignment, DynamicCrop, Resample and Rotation tools. These new versions introduce an important new feature: Lanczos pixel interpolation.
We are updating the reference documentation for these tools to reflect the changes. The new documents will be distributed through the update system once completed. For now, I have finished a new version of the documentation on pixel interpolation algorithms in PixInsight, where you'll find exhaustive information on important topics that anybody involved in astronomical imaging should know IMO:
http://pixinsight.com/doc/docs/InterpolationAlgorithms/InterpolationAlgorithms.htmlBesides a good read (I hope), I have included a number of examples and comparisons at the end of this document that I strongly encourage you to explore. They are intended to provide essential information on critical image processing topics.
Starting with these releases, Lanczos interpolation supersedes bicubic spline on the whole PixInsight platform for all geometric transformations not requiring strong downsampling operations; for the latter tasks, Mitchell-Netravali cubic filter interpolation remains the default option. The advantages of the Lanczos algorithm are of great importance, as shown on the examples included in the above document:
- Higher subpixel accuracy.
- Better preservation of small-scale structures.
- Less generation of aliasing artifacts.
These features are particularly critical to image registration tasks. In all of our tests, Lanczos-3 interpolation systematically leads to a smaller PSF in all images registered with StarAlignment, compared to bicubic spline. For this reason, Lanczos-3 is now the default interpolation algorithm in the StarAlignment tool for image registration tasks not involving strong scale reductions.
This is a new step forward to improve the capabilities of PixInsight to help our users get the most out of their images. We hope you'll like it.
