Luminous Landscape Forum

Raw & Post Processing, Printing => Digital Image Processing => Topic started by: Malcolm Payne on January 27, 2020, 09:09:58 am

Title: Topaz Denoise AI v2.0
Post by: Malcolm Payne on January 27, 2020, 09:09:58 am
I've just updated Denoise AI to the latest v2.0 and have found that, while GPU mode (Nvidia P4000) is now almost instant, the degree of noise reduction is now very much less than in CPU mode. GPU mode still leaves some unwanted noise remaining even at 100%, while CPU mode removes everything by 75% or lower, leaving a somewhat plastic appearance.

I couldn't find anything about this on the Topaz forum. Has anyone else seen similar behaviour with the new version?

Malcolm
Title: Re: Topaz Denoise AI v2.0
Post by: PeterAit on January 27, 2020, 10:11:41 am
I've just updated Denoise AI to the latest v2.0 and have found that, while GPU mode (Nvidia P4000) is now almost instant, the degree of noise reduction is now very much less than in CPU mode. GPU mode still leaves some unwanted noise remaining even at 100%, while CPU mode removes everything by 75% or lower, leaving a somewhat plastic appearance.

I couldn't find anything about this on the Topaz forum. Has anyone else seen similar behaviour with the new version?

Malcolm

I have not tried it, but will. Yet I am surprised--I always thought that CPU and GPU modes performed the same calculations, just one faster than the other.
Title: Re: Topaz Denoise AI v2.0
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on January 27, 2020, 11:11:42 am
I have not tried it, but will. Yet I am surprised--I always thought that CPU and GPU modes performed the same calculations, just one faster than the other.

They should, but in my tests the CPU mode produces better image quality. The speed improvement of the Intel OpenVINO option is very effective when using CPU mode. In some cases people have reported nearly similar processing speeds as with GPU mode, but in any case much faster CPU processing than without it.

The OpenVINO processing is tailored for Intel Processors, and uses very much optimized code for processing with no measurable image quality difference compared to not using it in CPU mode. The gain in performance on AMD processors is unknown.
Title: Re: Topaz Denoise AI v2.0
Post by: kers on January 27, 2020, 01:45:53 pm
I see new technologies emerge for screen-rendering that are not 100% perfect but look almost right and have significant speed value for displaying large amounts of data.
Good for video and games but not for photographers...
Title: Re: Topaz Denoise AI v2.0
Post by: Malcolm Payne on January 28, 2020, 03:04:22 pm
On further testing, the amount of noise remaining in GPU mode appears to be linked to the Allowed Graphics Memory Consumption setting. On 'Low', the results are similar if not identical to CPU mode, while 'Medium' and 'High' show significantly more marked differences respectively in noise levels between CPU & GPU modes.

This behaviour was not present in previous version(s) i.e. there is no obvious visual difference between CPU mode and any of the GPU memory consumption settings in Denoise AI v1.3.3. Confirmed on a laptop with a much lower spec GPU, but there was no previous evidence of it on the main PC with the P4000 GPU either.
Title: Re: Topaz Denoise AI v2.0
Post by: JaapD on January 29, 2020, 12:26:07 am
Is v2.0 supposed to be a free update for registered users of Denoise AI v1.3.3? Denoise did not do the usual update to the latest release at my PC so I got the idea that I had to purchase v2.0.

Can anyone enlighten me?

Regards,
Jaap.
Title: Re: Topaz Denoise AI v2.0
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on January 29, 2020, 04:29:52 am
Is v2.0 supposed to be a free update for registered users of Denoise AI v1.3.3? Denoise did not do the usual update to the latest release at my PC so I got the idea that I had to purchase v2.0.

Can anyone enlighten me?

Hi Jaap,

Denoise 2.0 is a free upgrade for owners of a license to the previous versions.

It could be possible that the automatic updater doesn't behave as intended. If that's the case, then just download the full installer and that will remove the older version and install the newer version of Denoise AI.

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Topaz Denoise AI v2.0
Post by: JaapD on January 29, 2020, 01:45:27 pm
Clear. Thanks a lot Bart!

Regards,
Jaap.
Title: Re: Topaz Denoise AI v2.0
Post by: Garnick on January 29, 2020, 05:27:06 pm
Hi Jaap,

Denoise 2.0 is a free upgrade for owners of a license to the previous versions.

It could be possible that the automatic updater doesn't behave as intended. If that's the case, then just download the full installer and that will remove the older version and install the newer version of Denoise AI.

Cheers,
Bart

Hi Bart,
 
I just opened V1.3.3 and checked for updates.  I was informed that I'm using the latest version.

Gary

Title: Re: Topaz Denoise AI v2.0
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on January 29, 2020, 06:52:38 pm
Hi Bart,
 
I just opened V1.3.3 and checked for updates.  I was informed that I'm using the latest version.

Hi Gary,

In that case, just download the (trial) installer (https://topazlabs.com/denoise-ai/) for the most recent version and use that to upgrade.

One of the great things about Topaz Labs, sofar, is their commitment to free (even version) upgrades to owners of a previous version license. That both creates a lot of value (for money) for those who invest in their products, and it also creates an incentive for them to keep innovating, to attract new customers.

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Topaz Denoise AI v2.0
Post by: Garnick on January 29, 2020, 07:20:14 pm
Hi Gary,

In that case, just download the installer (https://topazlabs.com/denoise-ai/) for the most recent version and use that to upgrade.

Cheers,
Bart
[/quote

I've done this with other apps but just wanted to be sure I'm reading you properly.  I assume you are referring to downloading and installing the Trial Version, is that correct?
Title: Re: Topaz Denoise AI v2.0
Post by: Arlen on January 29, 2020, 11:46:09 pm
Or log in to your Topaz account and download the latest non-trial version from your purchased products here:
https://topazlabs.com/my-account/downloads/
Title: Re: Topaz Denoise AI v2.0
Post by: Garnick on January 30, 2020, 08:59:01 am
Or log in to your Topaz account and download the latest non-trial version from your purchased products here:
https://topazlabs.com/my-account/downloads/

Yes, I've been there and Denoise AI is not on the list in any version.  I just opened V1.3.3 and was still informed that this is the latest version.  Of course since I do have Denoise it is on the list.
Title: Re: Topaz Denoise AI v2.0
Post by: Arlen on January 30, 2020, 10:59:56 am
I just opened V1.3.3 and was still informed that this is the latest version.

Yes the same thing happened to me, and from what I see online is happening to everyone. You can't upgrade from 2.0.0 from within 1.3.3 (don't ask me why). If you don't see DeNoise AI in your product list, you may need to contact Topaz.
Title: Re: Topaz Denoise AI v2.0
Post by: Garnick on January 30, 2020, 11:11:57 am
Yes the same thing happened to me, and from what I see online is happening to everyone. You can't upgrade from 2.0.0 from within 1.3.3 (don't ask me why). If you don't see DeNoise AI in your product list, you may need to contact Topaz.

As a matter of fact I was just preparing to get in touch with Topaz about that same issue of Denoise AI not showing on my list of plugins in my account.  This will be the third time I've had to ask them to update that list and quite honestly I'm getting rather fed up with it.  I also tried to upgrade to Studio 2 from v1.14.5 which also did not work.  Granted, I was using an upgrade from July 2019 so that may have had some bearing on the issue.  I've just downloaded the current upgrade and I'll see how that works, if at all.  When I in v1.14.5 and try to upgrade the software I'm informed that I am running the latest version.       
Title: Re: Topaz Denoise AI v2.0
Post by: earlybird on January 30, 2020, 11:41:58 am
I bought a license for Denoise 5 many years ago.

Topaz gave me free licenses for v6, Denoise AI v1, and now Denoise v2.

It doesn't seem like anything to get fed up over.

Denoise AI isn't listed in my account page downloads so I navigated to Topaz's https://topazlabs.com/downloads/ webpage and downloaded Topaz Denoise v2.

Then I installed it.

Then I launched it.

That seemed easy.
Title: Re: Topaz Denoise AI v2.0
Post by: kers on February 05, 2020, 04:13:03 pm
Just started a trail on topaz denoise ai 2.0.
Did so before with the older version.
Must say things have improved! Batch processing works great; but only works with one basic setting to do all.
The speed now is faster on my 10 core i9 CPU using (intellOpenVino) than on the GPU ( Ati radeon 480 rx)
When choosing the CPU it also uses partly the GPU.
it takes now about 40 seconds for one D850 tiff 16 bit. ( used to be 10 minutes!) ( GPU alone takes 1m25sec)
+
i see less artifacts than before - outcome is more predictable... so i bought it.
Also because it has a different approach to noise reduction; it can work together with other methods.
there is till 7th of februari an offer 20 $ off. + 9 off via plugsnpixels- if one is interested ( makes 51 $)

PS about problems with upgrading: first throw away the old denoise in the applications and then install the new one.
Title: Re: Topaz Denoise AI v2.0 OpenVINO
Post by: bjanes on February 06, 2020, 09:20:59 am
They should, but in my tests the CPU mode produces better image quality. The speed improvement of the Intel OpenVINO option is very effective when using CPU mode. In some cases people have reported nearly similar processing speeds as with GPU mode, but in any case much faster CPU processing than without it.

The OpenVINO processing is tailored for Intel Processors, and uses very much optimized code for processing with no measurable image quality difference compared to not using it in CPU mode. The gain in performance on AMD processors is unknown.

Bart,

I have an Intel i9 processor on my PC build. How does one invoke the OpenVINO option?

Thanks,

Bill
Title: Re: Topaz Denoise AI v2.0 OpenVINO
Post by: kers on February 06, 2020, 09:27:03 am
Bart,

I have an Intel i9 processor on my PC build. How does one invoke the OpenVINO option?

Thanks,

Bill

It is an option in the Denoise preferences
Title: Re: Topaz Denoise AI v2.0
Post by: Arlen on February 06, 2020, 05:24:04 pm
I'm reasonably computer savvy, but installation of the OpenVINO Toolkit for Windows 10 looks fairly complicated. Are there any risks to installing it? If it goes wrong, can you easily back out, say by first creating a system restore point?
Title: Re: Topaz Denoise AI v2.0
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on February 06, 2020, 06:30:44 pm
I'm reasonably computer savvy, but installation of the OpenVINO Toolkit for Windows 10 looks fairly complicated. Are there any risks to installing it? If it goes wrong, can you easily back out, say by first creating a system restore point?

Hi Arlen,


'Intel OpenVINO' gets installed automatically with the various TopazLabs AI applications. The recent versions of these TopazLabs applications run a benchmark test on the first file that's opened after installation, to determine which of the settings produces the best performance, but one can also manually force the chosen setting to OpenVINO if so desired.

From an image quality standpoint, the CPU modes of operation seem to produce better results compared to the GPU modes. That is not a common tradeoff between CPU or GPU modes of operation, so it probably has to do with compromises in calculation precision in GPU mode as implemented by Topaz Labs. The addition of OpenVINO reduces the slower processing time for CPU mode.

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Topaz Denoise AI v2.0
Post by: Arlen on February 06, 2020, 07:35:50 pm
Thanks for the information, Bart. The reason that I assumed that one must install the OpenVINO Toolkit separately is because when I go to Preferences in Denoise AI, v. 2.0.0, the option "Enable Intel OpenVINO" is grayed out. Even though my processor is a 3.70 gigahertz Intel Core i7-8700K, which is on the supported list. Any idea what might be causing that?
Title: Re: Topaz Denoise AI v2.0
Post by: Redcrown on February 06, 2020, 09:46:25 pm
Finally got around to it. 4 year old Win10 system V1809, I7 6 cores, GPU Nvidia GTX 960.

Denoise AI 2.0.0 sample test speeds:

GPU = 55 seconds, only 1-2 sec diff with memory low, med, or high.
CPU only = 140 seconds
CPU + OpenVINO = 25 seconds !!

Like others, I see obvious and measurable differences in results, with CPU stronger, more noise removal than GPU at identical settings.
CPU+OpenVINO results are slightly different than CPU only, but not significant. This makes no sense to me, but I'm no GPU expert and never heard of OpenVINO before.

Arlen: You have  to disable the GPU option to open up the OpenVINO option. It remains grayed out until you go to CPU mode.
Title: Re: Topaz Denoise AI v2.0
Post by: Arlen on February 06, 2020, 11:51:11 pm
Arlen: You have  to disable the GPU option to open up the OpenVINO option. It remains grayed out until you go to CPU mode.

Ah, thank you. Not only did I have to disable discrete GPU mode, I also had to hit Reset. That did the trick.