Introducing the GIOTTO 220 Smart Flat Field Generator by Primaluce Lab

The GIOTTO 220 is a cutting-edge Smart Flat Field Generator meticulously crafted by Primaluce Lab's engineers. It's specifically designed to assist you in capturing precise flat calibration frames, catering to telescopes with apertures of up to 220mm.

Key Features of GIOTTO 220:

1. High-Performance LED Lights: GIOTTO employs an array of LED lights with a color temperature closely resembling that of the Sun. This ensures a neutral color tone in your calibration frames.

2. Specially Designed Light Diffuser: The device incorporates a thoughtfully designed light diffuser, ensuring even and consistent illumination for accurate calibration.

3. Adjustable Light Intensity: With integrated electronics, you can precisely adjust GIOTTO's light intensity through 100 steps, ranging from 0% to 100%. This level of control enables you to fine-tune your calibration process.

4. Versatile Mounting: GIOTTO offers flexibility in installation. It can be easily secured in front of telescopes with an external tube diameter ranging from 182mm to 244mm, thanks to the included thumbscrews.

5. Multiple Connectivity Options: The device features a USB-C port for seamless connection to your EAGLE or any standard Windows computer. This connectivity allows for remote control using popular software like PLAY or ASCOM drivers. Additionally, GIOTTO is equipped with WiFi capabilities, enabling wireless control via your smartphone or tablet through the included Virtual HandPad.

6. Optional Telescope Cover Motor: For those looking to automate the capture of calibration files or remotely open and close their telescope, GIOTTO can be used in conjunction with the optional ALTO telescope cover motor, transforming it into a motorized cap that can be controlled remotely.

Calibration is a critical aspect of astrophotography, significantly enhancing the quality of your results. Special calibration frames, including flats, darks, and bias frames, play a crucial role in post-processing. Flat frames, in particular, help mitigate issues like vignetting and shadows caused by dust on your optical system. GIOTTO is the intelligent solution for capturing precise flat calibration frames, optimizing your astrophotography.

It's important to note that the GIOTTO 220 flat field generator is ideal for telescopes with a maximum illuminated diameter of 220mm. We recommend it for use with compact telescopes, such as refractors with apertures up to 180mm. When selecting a flat field generator, choosing a model with an illuminated panel larger than your telescope's optics is advisable. Additionally, ensure that the external tube diameter of your telescope falls within the maximum illuminated diameter of the flat field generator.

Experience unparalleled precision and convenience in your astrophotography calibration process with the GIOTTO 220 Smart Flat Field Generator. Upgrade your setup today and capture calibration frames like a pro.

GIOTTO includes electronics for USB or wireless remote control

At the bottom part of GIOTTO you find the control panel with a USB-C port to let you easily connect it to your EAGLE or standard Windows computer. It also comes with WiFi connectivity so you can wirelessly control it using your smartphone or tablet via the included Virtual HandPad! In order to power GIOTTO, you don't need a separate power unit, since it natively runs off of a 12V power source so it's easy to power together with your astrophotography telescope.

GIOTTO 220 is designed for telescopes with aperture up to 220mm

Using GIOTTO 220 is very simple: when you want to record your flat frames, you can simply attach GIOTTO 220 to the front of your telescope by locking it in place with the included thumbscrews that allow you to use it with telescope with external diameter from 182mm to 244mm. This way you are not forced to keep the flat field generator with your hand in front of your telescope during flat frames acquisition or to move your telescope from your target and point it to the Zenith if you can't keep the flat generator in position by hand. Thumbscrews are made up of plastic so they do not ruin your telescope tube when you lock GIOTTO on it.

GIOTTO is easy to use and it helps you in recording flat frames

You can control GIOTTO with PLAY astrophotography software that we designed not only to control PrimaLuceLab devices but also to let you do astrophotography in the easiest way. In fact PLAY comes also with a special wizard that allows you to easily record calibration files for your images. And if you want to use your preferred Windows astrophotography software, you can also control GIOTTO by using other softwares thanks to the dedicated ASCOM driver.

Use the Virtual HandPad to control GIOTTO even without a computer

You can even control GIOTTO without a computer by connecting your smartphone or tablet to GIOTTO WiFi network and by using the included Virtual HandPad. Here you can turn the light on and set brightness. You can also save your preferred settings and recall them very easily, for example by saving different values when you use different filters!

Convert it in a remotely controlled motorized cap by adding ALTO telescope cover motor

If you want to automate the capture of your calibration files or if you're searching for the best way to remotely open and close your telescope, you can add the optional ALTO telescope cover motor and use GIOTTO as a remotely controlled motorized cap! We designed ALTO to be easily connected with our PLUS clamp to any Vixen or Losmandy style dovetail bar that is already present in many telescopes (like SCT, Aplanatic SCT, RCT, etc). If your telescope has a short bar (for example in refractors or newtonians) you can easily add a longer dovetail bar to let you clamp ALTO just above or below the front end of your tube! This design allows you to adjust GIOTTO and ALTO positions to allow an optimal opening and closing of your telescope.

If you are thinking that image calibration and removal of dust and vignetting is a problem only for us modern astrophotographers, it seems like even Giotto, after completing his painting of Halley’s Comet in 1301, had the same problem!

Giotto di Bondone: Italian painter and architect from Florence during the Late Middle Ages

Giotto's masterwork is the decoration of the Scrovegni Chapel, in Padua, which was completed around 1305. When Pope Benedict XI sent a messenger to Giotto, asking him to send a drawing to demonstrate his skill, Giotto drew a red circle so perfect that it seemed as though it was drawn using a pair of compasses and instructed the messenger to send it to the Pope. The messenger departed ill-pleased, believing that he had been made a fool of. The messenger brought other artists' drawings back to the Pope in addition to Giotto's. When the messenger related how he had made the circle without moving his arm and without the aid of compasses the Pope and his courtiers were amazed at how Giotto's skill greatly surpassed all of his contemporaries.

from: Wikipedia (picture: Posthumous portrait of Giotto di Bondone, made between 1490 and 1550)