Has Anyone Tried the New Pixinsight GeneralisedHyperbolicStretch Script?

[Juno16]

I just read about the new Pixinsight GHS script on Astrobin and gave it a try.

I originally installed V1 and it was not something that I could get very far with not knowing much about it. I saw today that there is a version 2 released that has a very nice preview window.

For anyone interested, the repository is here: https://www.ghsastro.co.uk/updates/

Just giving it a few minutes without watching the Youtube video's, I found it to be quite powerful. There is quite a bit yet that I don't yet understand.

I only worked with the Stretch Factor slider and the Local Stretch Intensity slider. The Stretch Factor is self explanatory. The Local Stretch Intensity slider seems to have quite an impact on taming galaxy cores. There are several types of stretches that can be applied.

Quite impressive and I've yet to learn much about its use or features.

Just curious if anyone else has tried it and what are your impressions?

[XCalRocketMan]

Haven't tried it yet, but it is in my plan to do so. Still struggling with trying to get a decent image of IC417 with only Ha and Sii.
The link to the repository returns a 403 Forbidden!

[STEVE333]

I found the the link below will work.

https://ghsastro.co.uk/

Steve

[Juno16]

I found the the link below will work.

https://ghsastro.co.uk/

Steve

Possibly the link that I posted worked since I had v1 already installed.

[XCalRocketMan]

I found the the link below will work.

https://ghsastro.co.uk/

Steve

Thanks Steve - I should have tried moving up the hierarchy of the URL

[STEVE333]

I'm going through the Dave Payne tutorial(s) now. Looks quite interesting. It will take a bit of learning, but, the ability to bring out the background while not blowing out the highlights may well be worth the effort.

Watch this space...

Steve

[STEVE333]

I checked out several of the tutorials and then gave it a try on some of my data. I like the concept, but, found it somewhat difficult to use. By difficult I don't mean that the interface was difficult, it was just difficult to get it to produce better results than what I get using normal techniques. Of course anything new is going to take some learning. However, it wasn't producing better results for me than what I got using other stretches (HT or ExponentialTransformation or a combination of both) so I didn't find a good reason to keep pursuing it. I've only tried it on nebula targets. Just my opinion. I look forward to others opinions.

Steve

[STEVE333]

One further point. When stretching with GHS there are 5 sliders that can be adjusted. With HistogramTransformation there are really only 2 sliders that are adjusted (the middle and left hand sliders). Even after watching the tutorials I found it difficult to know where to position some of the sliders on the first stretch. It became even more unclear when it came to the second (or third) stretch. Maybe it's just because I'm 80, but, I wasn't able to get a handle on it. Hopefully someone else has better success.

Steve

[XCalRocketMan]

I've been trying it out on my latest image (IC417) but found it doesn't really produce anything different than my other tools can provide. I'll experiment more with it as I find time as it does provide some additional flexibility over HT and others.

[starfield]

I missed this post first time around. After fiddling with this for a while it's really beginning to grow on me. I can't see it replacing tools like Masked Stretch, but I've found especially for stretching my RGB layer I can get nice colors without the artifacts that I pick up with ArcSin stretch. What I've found to be critical is how you set the symmetry stretch point. This can produce very different results depending on where you put it (left or right of the histogram). I've been working on galaxy wide fields, so will have to give it a try on some nebulas.

[XCalRocketMan]

I missed this post first time around. After fiddling with this for a while it's really beginning to grow on me. I can't see it replacing tools like Masked Stretch, but I've found especially for stretching my RGB layer I can get nice colors without the artifacts that I pick up with ArcSin stretch. What I've found to be critical is how you set the symmetry stretch point. This can produce very different results depending on where you put it (left or right of the histogram). I've been working on galaxy wide fields, so will have to give it a try on some nebulas.

I'm still not convinced it's any better than fiddling with HT. But I'm willing to give it another go when I get a chance.

[maceemiller]

Hi all.

I've been using GHS V2 for a couple of weeks now and I have to say I love it.
I'm currently working on some Orion data and using the script ive managed to pull out so much more surrounding nebula and dust which has been impossible for me to do using any other process so for me anyway, GHS V2 is priceless.

Carl