A Comparative Analysis
which one would you select? I'd like your opinions, including strengths and weaknesses.
Note: The difference is in the background
Thank you in advance.
AB LINK:https://app.astrobin.com/i/oo0pal
CS
Brian
M96-A
📷 M96-A.jpg
M96-B
📷 M96-B.jpg
andrea tasselli · Feb 27, 2026, 09:45 PM
Too much "in your face" colour saturation, duo-colour is bad as it is, and I feel both black points are clipped a bit too much. The second is nosier a trifle too much. I don't really fancy any of them over the other.
Thanks for your comments, both have a background of 0.902 16/255 (23) +- 0.06
CS
Brian
I prefer B, the background looks more natural to me than in A, where I feel like I can see more noise-reduction artifacts, which also seem to take away a bit of depth.
Oscar H. · Feb 28, 2026, 02:54 AM
I like B's background better because I can see noise, and so it feels more realistic/natural to me than A.
thank you so much for your comments
CS
Brian
Charles Michaud · Feb 28, 2026, 08:22 AM
I prefer B, the background looks more natural to me than in A, where I feel like I can see more noise-reduction artifacts, which also seem to take away a bit of depth.
thank you so much for your comments
CS
Brian
I agree with Oscar H. about version B. It also appears that some of the smaller background galaxies are more visible in version B.
CS, Tim
Definitely B. Way too much noise reduction with A. Makes it look 2 dimensional
Personally I preffer a bit of grain noise over exessive noise reduction. The Images tend to look more natural. If Im looking to stretch an image more and the noise is just too much, I tend to go for more total exposure time. For me its Version B
Christopher Gomez · Mar 1, 2026, 03:27 AM
Personally I preffer a bit of grain noise over exessive noise reduction. The Images tend to look more natural. If Im looking to stretch an image more and the noise is just too much, I tend to go for more total exposure time. For me its Version B
thank you so much for your comments and vote
CS
Brian
Rick Krejci · Feb 28, 2026, 03:00 PM
Definitely B. Way too much noise reduction with A. Makes it look 2 dimensional
thank you for your comments ,Rick
CS
Brian
Tim Ray · Feb 28, 2026, 01:43 PM
I agree with Oscar H. about version B. It also appears that some of the smaller background galaxies are more visible in version B.
CS, Tim
thank you for your comments,Tim
CS
Brian
B.
As others have pointed out, the bg looks more natural to my eyes as well.
Gordon Pegue · Mar 2, 2026, 05:06 AM
B.
As others have pointed out, the bg looks more natural to my eyes as well.
thank you so much, for your comments
i Appreciated
CS
Brian
Image A has a bit more contrast, but B as mentioned the better background. So I chose B.
Magnus Zwick · Mar 2, 2026, 05:40 PM
Image A has a bit more contrast, but B as mentioned the better background. So I chose B.
thank for your comments Magnus
CS
Brian
Judging from the range of comments here, it makes me wonder if I’m losing my vision. They both look pretty similar to me. I can’t tell if I’m seeing differences or imagining differences and when I get to that point, I don’t think that it’s worth worrying about.
John
John Hayes · Mar 2, 2026, 06:13 PM
Judging from the range of comments here, it makes me wonder if I’m losing my vision. They both look pretty similar to me. I can’t tell if I’m seeing differences or imagining differences and when I get to that point, I don’t think that it’s worth worrying about.
John
Hi,John
yes, there's a difference in the background (only the background ,recommend x1.5 or more to see the differents
https://app.astrobin.com/i/oo0pal?r=P
thank you so much for your comments
CS
Brian
After multiple looks, I really couldn’t see the difference. I’d decided that this was an experiment to see if people would choose one over the other when they were identical. To the extent they differ, if one has to look that hard, I don’t feel it matters. I can’t choose one or the other, but I do like them.
Christopher Clucas · Mar 2, 2026, 10:05 PM
After multiple looks, I really couldn’t see the difference. I’d decided that this was an experiment to see if people would choose one over the other when they were identical. To the extent they differ, if one has to look that hard, I don’t feel it matters. I can’t choose one or the other, but I do like them.
thank you for your comments,Christopher
The difference is in the background. Image B has more votes so far( 77%); you can click the link to see them enlarged.
thank you again
CS
Brian
John Hayes · Mar 2, 2026, 06:13 PM
Judging from the range of comments here, it makes me wonder if I’m losing my vision. They both look pretty similar to me. I can’t tell if I’m seeing differences or imagining differences and when I get to that point, I don’t think that it’s worth worrying about.
John
My thoughts exactly. I needed to pixel-peep to see the difference, and I’m looking at it on my 4k 27” screen. My personal choice is either. I don’t think one is good over the other; there is nothing wrong with any.
As I always advocate, rather than focusing on a single style, I prefer people to have different artistic styles. I like it when I look at an image and be able to say “Oh, this must be Brian’s image!” These details give our work a character. I’d go with whatever I feel reflects my emotions.
I think a possibility is that some of the people that don’t see the difference have their monitors adjusted with a higher blackpoint, so don’t see the noise differences. I have mine calibrated to I can see all the black levels.
It’s probably also a style preference for flat, noiseless backgrounds. To me, it’s a pet-peeve and it destroys my perception of 3d space. To each their own on that one.
I like process my pics such that noise is apparent at 2x, still visible at about 1.5x and just visible at 1x. Just my preference.
Astrobin is a bit of a quandry, though, since each persons 100% magnification is dependent on their own windows scaling, so it’s probably 125-150% or more depending on that windows setting if you compare 1x in photoshop with astrobin.
Kay Ogetay · Mar 3, 2026, 01:20 AM
John Hayes · Mar 2, 2026, 06:13 PM
Judging from the range of comments here, it makes me wonder if I’m losing my vision. They both look pretty similar to me. I can’t tell if I’m seeing differences or imagining differences and when I get to that point, I don’t think that it’s worth worrying about.
John
My thoughts exactly. I needed to pixel-peep to see the difference, and I’m looking at it on my 4k 27” screen. My personal choice is either. I don’t think one is good over the other; there is nothing wrong with any.
As I always advocate, rather than focusing on a single style, I prefer people to have different artistic styles. I like it when I look at an image and be able to say “Oh, this must be Brian’s image!” These details give our work a character. I’d go with whatever I feel reflects my emotions.
thank you so much for your comments
CS
Brian
Rick Krejci · Mar 3, 2026, 03:02 AM
I think a possibility is that some of the people that don’t see the difference have their monitors adjusted with a higher blackpoint, so don’t see the noise differences. I have mine calibrated to I can see all the black levels.
It’s probably also a style preference for flat, noiseless backgrounds. To me, it’s a pet-peeve and it destroys my perception of 3d space. To each their own on that one.
I like process my pics such that noise is apparent at 2x, still visible at about 1.5x and just visible at 1x. Just my preference.
Astrobin is a bit of a quandry, though, since each persons 100% magnification is dependent on their own windows scaling, so it’s probably 125-150% or more depending on that windows setting if you compare 1x in photoshop with astrobin.
thank you for your comments, Rick
CS
Brian