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Camera Simulator

N.I.N.A. includes a camera simulator for testing an imaging workflow without a physical camera. It behaves like a camera connection and can return generated noise, a selected image, a sky survey image or images from a directory.

On the Equipment > Camera page, select N.I.N.A. Simulator Camera. Use the gear button to configure its image source, then connect it with the power button.

Camera simulator selected on the Camera equipment page

Simulator Setup#

The source selector at the top of the setup window controls what the simulator returns for an exposure. The settings are stored in the current N.I.N.A. profile.

Source: Random#

Random camera simulator source

Random generates a 16-bit noise image. Width and Height set its pixel dimensions. Mean and StdDev control the distribution of its pixel values.

Source: Image#

Image camera simulator source

Image returns one existing image for every exposure. Select Load Image and choose an image format that N.I.N.A. can open. Enable Is Bayered when the source data should be treated as a Bayer mosaic. The image path is retained in the current profile and the file is loaded again when needed.

Source: Sky Survey#

Sky Survey camera simulator source

Sky Survey downloads an image centered on the connected telescope's current coordinates. It therefore requires both a telescope connection and network access. FoV sets the requested field of view in degrees. The RA, declination, azimuth and altitude offsets simulate pointing errors in arcseconds.

Warning

Downloading a Sky Survey exposure updates the camera pixel size and telescope focal length in the current profile to match the simulated survey image. Use a dedicated test profile if those values must not replace your equipment settings.

Source: Directory#

Directory camera simulator source

Directory returns supported image files from a selected directory in sequence. Select Load Directory and choose the source folder. After the last image, the simulator starts again with the first image. This is useful for replaying a set of exposures through an imaging workflow.

Simulator Usage#

Connecting the simulator does not place an image in the Imaging workspace. Take a snapshot or run a sequence exposure just as you would with a physical camera. The configured source is returned when N.I.N.A. downloads that exposure.