Topaz sneaks out Gigapixel AI update, 3X faster

[Jim Kasson]

Did you see any color shift or difference in detail at 100% between the two methods?

I will check.

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

I should have mentioned CPU - Intel Core i7 6700 at 4.0 GHz.  Did you see any color shift or difference in detail at 100% between the two methods?  I noticed it immediately when I stacked them in Photoshop and turned the top layer off and on.  That part is puzzling to me.  I checked to make sure they both had the originally assigned profile, both did.

Hi John,

I also noticed a difference in detail. My Graphics driver doesn't qualify for the minimum hardware specs, so I run Gigapixel AI in CPU mode. During Beta testing for this version, I was able to run a test in GPU mode, but with frequent crashes (as expected). The tests that did finish, showed from better to much better detail in CPU mode.

This is something that I wanted to address with the folks at Topaz Labs after the beta cycle that focused on performance tweaking. I could not be sure that it was not limited to my specific setup. But now that you also notice it, there may be something that needs fixing in the GPU code.

I've just sent a support request explaining this. I'm not sure they can match my (incompatible hardware) but they probably can test with your hardware. It would be helpful if you could send them a support request as well.

Cheers,
Bart

[John Hollenberg]

I probably should update my graphics driver to see if that could be the problem. Later today I will post the Dropbox link to the Tif file that I used to see if other people see the same problem with that file. I will also put a tiff file with a small crop showing the differences in Photoshop

[John Hollenberg]

Here is the dropbox link to a small section of the TIFF file:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/cswn9z0829qzdpd/_DSC4007.tif?

Here is the dropbox link to the Gigapixel CPU vs GPU versions in separate layers with a few eyedroppers placed:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ykdc1ah72vs6v9l/_DSC4007_output_CPU_vs_GPU.tif?

If anyone with different GPU wants to do the Gigapixel 2X enlargements to see if they get the same CPU and GPU results, feel free.

Edit: posted correct link showing CPU vs GPU.

[John Hollenberg]

The link to the file comparing CPU to GPU was wrong.  It has now been corrected for anyone who wants to see the differences.

[John Hollenberg]

I updated the graphics driver to version 24.21.13.9924 dated 9/5/18 using "Update driver" from Device manager.  No change so presumably this is not a driver issue.

[Jim Kasson]

Here's what I'm seeing. I don't think there are consequential differences. These are rezzed down from a 2x expansion.

[John Hollenberg]

At the suggestion of a user on the Topaz forum, I turned off Max AI and used GPU memory low or medium and got slightly BETTER results than CPU. Of note, using this method did not change the colors when compared to Preserve Details 2.0 in Photoshop (but essentially produced a cleaner version of Preserve Details 2.0). There was more subtle shading of colors in this GPU version than the CPU version, a subtlety that matched the Preserve Details 2.0. So, I get a better conversion which is faster.  I think this will be my default setting although need to test on other images to make sure this isn't a one off result.

[jim t]

Anyone having problems with gigapixel and dealing with fog or images with Norton effect applied?

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

Anyone having problems with gigapixel and dealing with fog or images with Norton effect applied?

Hi Jim,

No obvious problems with fog. Anything in particular that we need to look for?
BTW, I'm running in CPU mode.

Cheers,
Bart

[jim t]

No obvious problems with fog. Anything in particular that we need to look for?
BTW, I'm running in CPU mode.

Bart,

I don't have gigapixel. Just wondered how the program handles foggy/hazy scenes. Wondering if it sharpens those areas, but I figure you could mask out the effect if it did.

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

Bart,

I don't have gigapixel. Just wondered how the program handles foggy/hazy scenes. Wondering if it sharpens those areas, but I figure you could mask out the effect if it did.

Scaled Fog remains as smooth as butter, unless there is some detail.
That detail is then rendered sharper but not necessarily more contrasty.

I'll try and find an example.

Cheers,
Bart

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

As 'promised' an example.

It's not a fog picture but a long exposure time one, some 30 seconds. That would cause a fog-like effect, which Gigapixel AI handles gracefully at a 6x upscaling. Of course the detail is a bit lacking at this scale, but it's higher than from a regular rescaling and perfectly suitable for high-resolution (600-720 PPI) printing.

Cheers,
Bart

[jim t]

Thanks for the example. Is anyone using the new texture feature in LR over Precision Contrast from Topaz now?

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

Thanks for the example. Is anyone using the new texture feature in LR over Precision Contrast from Topaz now?

From what I've seen of the texture feature in LR, it is something more like Topaz Precision Detail (which is like Texture on steroids).
Topaz Precision Contrast is Clarity, on steroids.  

Both functions are incorporated in the updated Topaz Adjust AI product, making that a nice one-stop exercise with some AI thrown in. But that's something for another thread.

Cheers,
Bart

[PeterAit]

FWIW I just upgraded GP and now have version 4.4.0.

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

FWIW I just upgraded GP and now have version 4.4.0.

Yes, that's the current version, but with some concerns about differences in sharpness between Acceleration modes.

Cheers,
Bart

[Daverich]

I've only been using Gigapixel for a couple of months but after updating to 4.4.0 on my Mac I've run into a problem I haven't seen before. For some reason I'm getting very noticeable artifacts. I'm using Settings = Auto so is there something in Settings = Manual that might help this? It takes so long to process that I'd prefer to not just randomly try changing things if someone can point me in the right direction first. Thanks.

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

I've only been using Gigapixel for a couple of months but after updating to 4.4.0 on my Mac I've run into a problem I haven't seen before. For some reason I'm getting very noticeable artifacts. I'm using Settings = Auto so is there something in Settings = Manual that might help this? It takes so long to process that I'd prefer to not just randomly try changing things if someone can point me in the right direction first. Thanks.

Hi,

It looks like it's picking up noise as if it were details. Try increasing noise reduction, starting with the 'auto' settings and incrementing it from there.

You might want to combine a separate background and a foreground scaling, each with different noise and sharpening settings.

Cheers,
Bart

[Daverich]

Hi,

It looks like it's picking up noise as if it were details. Try increasing noise reduction, starting with the 'auto' settings and incrementing it from there.

You might want to combine a separate background and a foreground scaling, each with different noise and sharpening settings.

Cheers,
Bart

Thanks for the tip, that's exactly what was wrong. I took that picture from a boat and was using a higher ISO than normal for me. When I went back to the original image and decreased the noise in it Gigapixel sized it up without the artifacts. Thanks again for your help.