Pixinsight 1.8.4 : nouvelles fonctionnalités

[Jean-Baptiste_Paris]

Bonjour à tous,

 

Comme tous ceux d'entre vous qui possèdent une licence Pixinsight, j'ai reçu l'email de Pleiades Astrophoto m'informant de la nouvelle version 1.8.4 avec des fonctionnalités nouvelles ou qui ont évoluées, ainsi que d'une version à sortir cet automne avec encore d'autres modifications !

 

J'ai installé la nouvelle version hier soir, et je n'ai eu que peu de temps pour la tester...

 

Compte-tenu du grand nombre de modifications / améliorations apportées par cette nouvelle version, je vous propose de centraliser ici les retours, problèmes, modifications de workflow, sources d'améliorations, etc. que nous pourrons trouver à l'usage...

 

Pour une présentation rapide, voici la liste des nouveautés :

 

New Features

 

Along with hundreds of bug fixes and stability improvements, PixInsight 1.8.4 introduces important new features. This is a partial list with the most relevant ones:

 

- Support for high-dpi screen resolutions. PixInsight 1.8.4 is able to work at native resolutions up to at least 10240×5760. This includes Retina monitors, 4K (3840×2160), 5K (5120×2880) and 8K (7680×4320) monitors. The application is able to detect the current monitor density automatically in most cases on Windows, OS X (when released) and X11 (with the latest versions of GNOME and KDE). In the cases where automatic monitor density detection does not work (or does not give the wanted results), the Preferences tool provides suitable options to define interface scaling factors and font resolutions manually in a flexible way.

 

- Universal user interface. Starting with version 1.8.4, the graphical user interface of PixInsight is identical on all supported platforms. The same interface style sheet, fonts and icons work now identically on FreeBSD, Linux, OS X, and Windows. There are only two exceptions, namely: (1) the possibility to use a native menu bar on OS X (enabled by default) and (2) the possibility to render workspace window buttons to the left sides of window title bars. Besides this, dialog frames are different because they are generated by the underlying windowing system, and hence are out of our control (although this will change in version 1.8.5).

 

- Migration of the whole PixInsight platform to Qt 5 (specifically, Qt version 5.5.0 in this release; version 1.8.3 used Qt 4.8.6). This provides compatibility with Windows 10, OS X 10.10 and future versions.

 

- New color management system. PixInsight 1.8.4 has a completely rewritten color management system, faster, more accurate and more flexible. The system monitor profile is detected automatically on OS X and Windows by default, as before, but now it can be changed manually with the ColorManagementSetup tool (note that this option has always been available on Linux and FreeBSD).

 

- Real-time swap file compression. Swap files (which, in case you don't know, are temporary working files generated under the hood to support undo/redo operations) can now be compressed/decompressed in real time with the LZ4 compression algorithm. This option, which is disabled by default, is available on the Directories and Network section of Preferences. Swap file compression can save significant disk space at the expense of some computation time. For moderately sized images on fast machines, the impact on I/O throughoutput is normally negligible, especially when parallel swap storage is being used (that is, several swap storage directories).

 

- Project compression. Data blocks stored in projects are now compressed by default using the Zlib/deflate lossless algorithm. The LZ4 and LZ4HC lossless algorithms are also available for faster compression, at the price of smaller compression ratios. Project compression can be spectacular in terms of disk space savings. Typical size reductions are between a 40% and a 75%, depending on project contents. For example, most masks can be compressed to just a 10%-20% of their original sizes.

 

- Resolution-independent projects. Starting with version 1.8.4, projects also support high-dpi screen resolutions. This is achieved by storing all coordinates and dimensions in a resolution-independent coordinate system. This means that you can save a project working with a 4K monitor, for example, and open it later on a standard monitor without major problems. Without this feature, sharing projects between high-dpi and low-dpi platforms would be very problematic.

 

- Improved project robustness. The new version 1.1 of the XOSM format is even more fault-tolerant than before.

 

- Improved icon description management. Instance descriptions are now edited with ScriptEditor instances, including specific syntax highlighting and advanced editor features.

 

- Improved XISF format. The XISF support module implements now many advanced features available in the XISF Specification Draft 7 document (still unpublished). This includes high-performance lossless data compression using the Zlib/deflate, LZ4 and LZ4HC codecs with byte shuffling, block checksums for improved data integrity control, storage of display functions (aka screen transfer functions), storage of RGB working spaces, and generation of image thumbnails.

 

- Extensive use of the XISF format. The XISF format is now used by default by all tools and scripts working with disk image files, providing a more consistent user experience and all the advanced features and benefits of XISF over legacy formats.

 

- Integration of the latest dcraw version 9.26 (revision 1.476, released 2015 May 25) by David Coffin.

 

- Integration of the LittleCMS color management engine version 2.7.

 

- Updated ImageSolver, MosaicByCoordinates, AperturePhotometry and AnnotateImage scripts by Andrés del Pozo, with high-accuracy plate solving based on surface splines and distortion correction.

 

- New software development tools. The PixInsight Class Library (PCL) has been rewritten almost entirely with many new classes, much more features, more efficient implementations, and a substantial support of C++11 features. New features include support for resolution-independent resources and high-dpi screen resolutions for interface definitions and interactive GUI code.

 

- Redesigned GitHub PixInsight repositories with the whole PCL C++ source code, more modules released as open-source products, more JavaScript scripts, and a new Reference-Documentation repository with the PIDoc source codes of all existing reference documents.

 

- Improved JavaScript runtime (PJSR), with new properties, methods and objects to support resolution-independent resources and high-dpi screen resolutions, in a similar way to PCL.

 

- New ElapsedTime PCL class. ElapsedTime is a platform-independent, monotonically nondecreasing high-resolution time stamp based on hardware time resources that are independent on any external time reference. It allows for high-precision measurement of time intervals (at the nanosecond level) on all supported platforms.

 

- New ElapsedTime core JavaScript object, with the same functionality as its C++ PCL counterpart.

 

- New PDF core JavaScript object. PDF is an abstract painting device with the same functionality of SVG or Bitmap. This means that PixInsight scripts can now generate PDF documents, along with SVG graphics and bitmap renditions.

 

Et celles prévues pour la prochaine version :

 

Advance of Next Versions (Fall/Winter 2015)

 

I can anticipate a few new features that we have already implemented, or are working on currently, which will be available in the next versions:

 

- Property Explorer. This is a specialized browser/editor component for image properties, which will be a useful tool for developers and advanced users. This component is basically finished.

 

- Project Explorer. A browser/editor component useful to explore, organize and control all the elements in the current project: images, icons, properties, documents, scripts and modules accessible on a centralized interface. This is under design.

 

- Integrated C++ compiler. This will make it possible to release PCL-based, open-source modules in source code form, which will be deployed with automatic compilation and building on the user's machine. We are still evaluating several options, but with high probability we'll integrate the clang compiler.

 

- New tools based on total generalized variation (TGV).

 

- Improved image calibration tools, including a new, much more efficient dark frame optimization algorithm.

 

- Improved project generation with XML digital signature support.

 

- Improved XISF format implementation with more compression codecs, more image properties and XML digital signature support.

 

- More extensive use of the XISF format. XISF data and image properties will replace FITS keywords by default throughout the whole platform, so that no tool chain will depend necessarily on FITS keywords anymore. Use of FITS header keywords will be optional.

 

- Official implementations of unofficial tools; for example, revised/improved versions of Carlos' development modules.

 

En ce qui me concerne, quelques remarques rapides (car peu de temps passé hier dessus), mais qui pourront être développées avec plus d'usage.

 

- New color management system. PixInsight 1.8.4 has a completely rewritten color management system, faster, more accurate and more flexible. The system monitor profile is detected automatically on OS X and Windows by default, as before, but now it can be changed manually with the ColorManagementSetup tool (note that this option has always been available on Linux and FreeBSD).

 

Une vraie bonne nouvelle pour moi et sans doute pour tous ceux qui travaillent avec un portable relié à un écran de bureau car jusqu'ici, le calibrage du système était par défaut celui du portable, sans possibilité d'en changer...

 

Bien sûr, on pouvait modifier les profils de travail par défaut, mais en ce qui me concerne, le calibrage du portable n'avait rien à voir avec celui de l'écran... donc cela me forçait à travailler avec un profil système complétement incohérent...

 

En pratique, cela se réglait simplement, mais j'ai du faire face souvent à des soucis de rendus entre Pix, PS et la version publiée sur Internet... alors que dans tous les cas je travaille en sRGB par défaut ! Par exemple, je dois sytématiquement relever la saturation des couleurs de +/- 10% entre ma version écran et la version publiée sur Internet.

 

A vérifier si ces réglages nouveaux vont améliorer la chose...

 

- Universal user interface. Starting with version 1.8.4, the graphical user interface of PixInsight is identical on all supported platforms. The same interface style sheet, fonts and icons work now identically on FreeBSD, Linux, OS X, and Windows. There are only two exceptions, namely: (1) the possibility to use a native menu bar on OS X (enabled by default) and (2) the possibility to render workspace window buttons to the left sides of window title bars. Besides this, dialog frames are different because they are generated by the underlying windowing system, and hence are out of our control (although this will change in version 1.8.5).

 

Je suis assez déçu par la nouvelle interface "harmonisée multiplateformes" dont la typo est bien moins agréable et lisible que celle passée : plus grosse et pateuse (en ce qui concerne la version Windows...).

 

J'espère que cela peut se régler, mais je n'ai pas passé beaucoup de temps à regarder ça en raison de l'heure déjà avancée...

 

- Updated ImageSolver, MosaicByCoordinates, AperturePhotometry and AnnotateImage scripts by Andrés del Pozo, with high-accuracy plate solving based on surface splines and distortion correction.

 

Pas expérimenté hier, mais j'imagine que cela doit en intéresser plus d'un !

 

Certaines modifs à venir sur la version automne 2015 semblent très intéressantes, même si peu décrites ici : meilleur gestion des darks, amélioration de la fonction TGV, incorporation de certaines fonctionnalités non-officielles...

 

Attention : l'installation de cette nouvelle version ne se fait pas via l'outil update... il faut désinstaller la version précédente et installer la nouvelle, donc prenez soin de bien noter vos "préférences", "favoris" ou fichiers récents si besoin avant de supprimer l'ancienne version... car vous repartez avec la nouvelle version avec les paramètres par défaut et a priori sans possibilité d'import.

 

JB

Modifié 4 août 2015 par Jean-Baptiste_Paris

[-Amenophis-]

Malheureusement pour ma part, je suis obligé de patienter jusqu'à Septembre pour profiter de cette nouvelle version .... (OSX oblige)

[Dieter333]

Personnellement, ne désirant pas reprendre mes scripts pour de nouveau les mettre à jour en septembre je vais sauter cette version et attendre la prochaine...

[Frederic Jabet]

Toujours pas de correction du blooming, quelle bande de charlots...

[Tromat]

Toujours pas de correction du blooming, quelle bande de charlots...

C'est ironique ?

 

De mon côté je suis curieux de voir les nouveaux outils à base de TGV, ils ont montré quelques exemples de déconvolution en planétaire et ça semble particulièrement efficace.

[Jean-Baptiste_Paris]

C'était peut-êtr évident, mais les anciens scripts ne semblent plus pris en charge sur cette nouvelle version... Impossible de les ouvrir.

 

Est-ce que quelqu'un sait s'il est possible de "convertir" les anciens scripts ou s'il est nécessaire de les refaire intégralement ?

 

jb