Internally, StellaImage uses 32-bit floating
point (real) data format for each component
(color) of image data, no matter what the
original input format of the image. This
preserves the integrity of the data throughout
the processing sequence used on the data. This
is of particular importance when iterative
advanced processing techniques such as
Lucy-Richardson deconvolution needs to be
applied to images.
To avoid degrading data when saving processed
images, StellaImage supports output (and input)
in 32-bit floating point FITS format. This
allows further processing to be done on saved
images without worrying about image degradation
caused by saving to files with lower dynamic
range.
In contrast, popular programs such as Photoshop
are not designed to handle wide dynamic range
astronomical data. Most operations involve
only 8-bit integer data (per color) though some
operations may be allowed on 16-bit integer
images. These programs are suitable only
for simple processing of astronomical images,
or for applying the final touchup to an
image meant for web display or printing.
