.ser

SER Format

The gold standard for planetary video capture - uncompressed, per-frame timestamped, purpose-built for astronomy and lucky imaging

Advantages

-Completely uncompressed - every pixel value preserved exactly
-Per-frame timestamps with microsecond precision (64-bit UTC)
-Supports 8-bit and 16-bit depth (preserves camera ADC resolution)
-Color modes: Mono, Bayer (RGGB/GRBG/GBRG/BGGR), RGB24
-Little-endian format for cross-platform compatibility
-Minimal 178-byte header overhead per file

Disadvantages

-Large files: ~1GB/min at 1936x1096 8-bit @ 100fps
-Requires fast NVMe SSD (500+ MB/s) for high-res high-fps recording
-Not playable in VLC/media players - need PIPP or astronomy software
-No audio track support (not needed for astronomy)

Recommended For

-All dedicated planetary cameras (ZWO, QHY, Player One, etc.)
-Lucky imaging where frame selection requires accurate quality ranking
-Derotation workflows requiring precise timestamps
-Any serious planetary imaging - no compression artifacts

Not Recommended For

-Smartphone capture (not supported by phone apps)
-When storage < 100GB (consider shorter captures)
-Webcams and DSLRs (use AVI or camera-native format)

Technical Details

SER v3 specification: 178-byte header contains frame count, color ID (0=mono, 8=Bayer RGGB, 100=RGB24), bit depth, image dimensions, timestamps array offset. Each frame stored sequentially as raw pixel data in little-endian format. Optional per-frame timestamp array at file end provides microsecond UTC timestamps for derotation and quality analysis.