Binning question

[bluesilver]

Hi, Sorry if I have got this in the wrong place here.
Just a simple question I hope in regards to binning.
I have been told it is best to bin after you have done all the stacking rather than trying to bin as you are imaging.

So I want to bin my project 2X or bin2
I see when I click on bin I have the option of either 25%, 50%, 75%
But don't see the option for 200%
Or am I thinking all this incorrect and I should be selecting 50% to give me bin2

Any advice would be appreciated.
Cheers.

[decay]

Hi, AFAIK 'binning' (optical/physical) is to couple together adjoining pixels on your sensor (for example 2x2 pixels). This reduces resolution, but improves sensitivity, which could be helpful under certain circumstances.

ST's Bin module does the same afterwards in order to increase SNR, so trade resolution vs. noise.
And yes, I guess you are right, 50% means 'bin2' (2x2 pixels will result in one single pixel, resolution is reduced by 2).

Does this help?

Best regards, Dietmar.

[bluesilver]

Yes it does + i finally jut managed to find out a bit more about it.
i was originally thinking about it all wrong, 50% is Bin2, but you just zoom in and keep moving the sider until the stars are no longer blocky.
All good, very much appreciated.

[Startrek]

You hit the nail on the head
Zooming in for a review of your Star pixel profile is the best way to gauge the most appropriate Binning ( avoiding blocky Stars )
Another processing tool which is directly affected by Binning is SV Decon
I’ve found over the last 6 months using SV Decon in version 1.8 is that it doesn’t give good results if I Bin at 60% or lower ( prior to 1.8 I use to Bin at 50% or default all the time ) Now my Binning is between 60% and 71% and sometimes no Binning if my data is super clean
Just remember the Binning module is scalable so you don’t necessarily have to use the preset buttons at the top. I always use the slider at the bottom

Clear Skies
Martin

[Startrek]

You hit the nail on the head
Zooming in for a review of your Star pixel profile is the best way to gauge the most appropriate Binning ( avoiding blocky Stars )
Another processing tool which is directly affected by Binning is SV Decon
I’ve found over the last 6 months using SV Decon in version 1.8 is that it doesn’t give good results if I Bin at 60% or lower ( prior to 1.8 I use to Bin at 50% or default all the time ) Now my Binning is between 60% and 71% and sometimes no Binning if my data is super clean
Just remember the Binning module is scalable so you don’t necessarily have to use the preset buttons at the top. I always use the slider at the bottom
I suppose to sum up Binning improves SNR with a slight trade off on Resolution, SV Decon mathematically improves Resolution ( de blur ) but the quality of SV Decon is proportional to the SNR or quality of your data and Binning
So Binning , Resolution, SNR and SV Decon are all interrelated and affect each other in some way.

Clear Skies
Martin