Skip to content

Anatomy of an Observation Frame

Observation card

Field Value
Status partial
Verified against sealed frames 6e69d792; docs ontology 5ce15c13
SceneId (host-supplied; not fixed on this page)
SceneClass n/a (conceptual)
InstrumentTier semantic (+ optional tiers later)
Channel IDs (present) cathedral.probe.outcome, cathedral.probe.region_label, cathedral.probe.refinement_level
Dependencies outcome ← transport; region_label ← outcome; refinement_level ← outcome plane
Units codes / labels / levels (see channels)
Validity Complete snapshot · Unprocessed = 0 for full-frame claims
Display mapping display-only
Claim boundary Frame completeness ≠ transport “success” or correct NormalRGB
Evidence sealed SealedObservationFrame + ProbeFrameSummary

Status

Layer Status
Portable sealed frame + descriptors implemented (XPrimeRay.ObservationLayer)
Region Probe adapter: outcome / region / refinement implemented
Geometric / field / path heatmaps as sealed channels planned
Public multi-host replay gallery planned

One concept

An observation frame is a host-neutral package:

context + dimensions + policy fingerprint
    + one or more sealed channels
    + validity / claim metadata

The Observation Plate is a visualization mapping of some channels (or of legacy host shading). It is not the frame.

Internal pair: Observation Plate (film buffer / FilmView); frame (SealedObservationFrame).

Parts of a frame

  1. Identity — experiment/scene/host/engine commit (record-level).
  2. Context key — pose, field policy, dimensions, generation (must match for refine/compare).
  3. Dimensions — sample width × height (e.g. 80×45, 160×90).
  4. Lifecycle state — request → pumping → Complete (or timeout / incomplete).
  5. Channels — dense planes or records with descriptors (id, type, domain, units, validity, claim boundary, deps).
  6. Frame summary — counts (hits, background, max-steps, faults, regions, last refine stats).
  7. Evidence emission — preferably exactly once per successful generation.

Region Probe channels today

Channel ID What it holds Units
cathedral.probe.outcome ProbeOutcomeCode per sample code
cathedral.probe.region_label connected-component label label id
cathedral.probe.refinement_level deepenings applied level

Completeness vs resolution

Phrase Means
Snapshot complete Lifecycle Complete · Unprocessed=0 · histogram consistent
Transport resolved (refine sense) Prior max-steps → HitGeometry or BackgroundResolved
Still unresolved-budget Still MaxStepsExhausted

A complete frame may be all max-steps or all background. That is still a complete measurement.

Deep dive: Snapshot Completeness vs Resolution.

What changed / why (reader exercise)

If you change… Frame should…
Camera / field / resolution / preset New generation; old context stale
Opacity / Display Mode only Display only; plane unchanged
Region Refinement P May update outcome + refinement_level for selected samples only

Interpretation boundary

Claim boundary

  • Display ≠ probe.
  • RGB/NormalRGB are Display Modes.
  • Physics waiting ≠ transport failure.
  • Lifecycle timeout ≠ MaxStepsExhausted.
  • Do not invent channels that are not in the sealed frame.

See also