1. Introducing the Astronomical Digital Video System (ADVS)
Tony Barry, Dave Gault, and Hristo Pavlov
WSAAG and IOTA
Presented to
International Occultation Timing Association 2012 AGM
Friday, 19th October 2012 (US)
Saturday, 20th October 2012 (AU)

2. The Working Group on Scientific Video Astronomy Tony Barry, Dave Gault and Hristo Pavlov First meeting Easter Monday, 25th April 2011

3. ADVS Overview

4. Video Signal Paths Conventional (interlaced)
The tortured signal path

5. ADVS features at a glance
Astronomical Digital Video System;
is all digital
has only one CCD read noise per image
is progressive scan
image start, mid. and end times to +/ seconds UT
exposure range 30 frames per second to 8 seconds per frame
requires no Instrument Delay compensation
video easily converted to FITS, complete with metadata
time OSD not embedded on the image, not blocking FOV
(eventually) remote/automated controllable
has complete control over gain, gamma and offset
means you don't have to deal with codecs
uses new .adv file format
.adv file can be repaired if not closed properly
has a choice of 3 3 price ranges
developers are very nice guys, and modest too... :-)

8. ADV File Format and Considerations
FITS
ADV
STREAM1 (IMAGES/BAND1)
STREAM2 (STATUS DATA/BAND2)
IMAGE (BAND1)
IMAGE (BAND1)
IMAGE (BAND1)
FRAME1
FRAME1
IMAGE (BAND3)
IMAGE (BAND1)
FRAME2
IMAGE (BAND3)
FRAME2
IMAGE (BAND2)
IMAGE (BAND2)
FRAME3
IMAGE (BAND1)
IMAGE (BAND3)
FRAME3
IMAGE (BAND1)
IMAGE (BAND3)
IMAGE (BAND3)
FRAME4
FRAME4
IMAGE (BAND3)
FRAME N
IMAGE (BAND1)
FRAME N
IMAGE (BAND3)
Minimize file size as possible
Power-off tolerant
Data corruption tolerant + allow recovery
Extensible
Allow user data storage
Open format
-Timestamps saved separately. -Saved gamma/gain/exposure with each frame. -Influenced by FITS. –Recovery from power-off -Lossless Compression
METADATA
METADATA
METADATA
METADATA
METADATA
INDEX (FAST ACCESS)
Astro Digital Video (ADV) File Structure
HEADER
DATA SECTIONS DEFINITION
SYSTEM METADATA TABLE
DATA BLOCKS
INDEX TABLE
USER METADATA TABLE

9. ADV Status Stream 1. GAIN 2. GAMMA 3. OFFSET (BRIGHTNESS)
4. SYSTEM TIME
5. ADVR SYSTEM MESSAGES
6. TIMESTAMP
7. EXPOSURE
8. TRACKED SATELLITES
9. GPS FIX STATUS

10. ADVR and Software Considerations
Able to tolerate random OS slowness
Optimized for performance (speed)
Robust
Easy to use

11. Adv2Fits Windows Mac OS X Linux Solaris
-Running on Windows, Mac, Linux and Unix
- Export all selected frames as FITS files
Windows Mac OS X Linux Solaris

12. Tangra 2

13. Point Grey Cameras
Flea3 03S1 = US $ 565
Flea3 03S3 = US $ 845
G-HopperEx = US $1995

14. QA Testing

15. Introducing SEXTA
VEXA and EXTA by Gerhard Dangl

16. QA - Timing Testing

17. http://www.astrodigitalvideo.com.au Thank You! – Questions?
ADVS price list
(to be confirmed)
ADVS-HTCC $289
Hirose Cable $60
ADVR (Ubuntu) $100
(Includes 2 free service tickets)
Service tickets ---- $20
Thank You! – Questions?