Anybody else interesting in AI upscaling for videos?

[Deleted member 234997]

Never done this before.

I put one episode of VIVA LA BAM up for upscaling through Waifu2x GUI (From Github) I used the 3D real world upscale - medium quality.

And the difference is gigantic. 512x384 is the original res. 768x1024 is the new.

Some fine detail is lost but overall the image is much clearer on the upscale.

The original video is also interlaced.

 

[cvaldes]

Would you please clarify which Waifu2x this is with a hyperlink? There are several GitHub projects that include Waifu2x and GUI in the name.

In the past month I've played around with Upscayl for still images. It works better for some images than others. Often you can tell from artifacting and other clues that a machine-driven upscaler was used. However in 98% of the cases, the Real ESRGAN-produced end results still look better than just conventional dumb upscaling.

I used Upscayl mostly with some old desktop wallpapers (lower resolution) to bring them up to my current display resolution (3840x2160p).

It's certain that these upscaling algorithms will get better over time. I will continue to watch over this.

 

[Deleted member 234997]

Would you please clarify which Waifu2x this is with a hyperlink? There are several GitHub projects that include Waifu2x and GUI.

In the past month I've played around with Upscayl for still images. It works better for some images than others. Often you can tell from artifacting and other clues that a machine-driven upscaler was used. However in 98% of the cases, the Real ESRGAN-produced end results still look better than just conventional dumb upscaling.

I used Upscayl mostly with some old desktop wallpapers (lower resolution) to bring them up to my current display resolution (3840x2160p).

It's certain that these upscaling algorithms will get better over time. I will continue to watch over this.

Release v3.106.01 · AaronFeng753/Waifu2x-Extension-GUI

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github.com

 

[ir_cow]

I use Topaz Video AI. Works great but very slow. Reminds me of encoding a DVD using a AMD64.

 

[Solaris17]

I use Topaz Video AI. Works great but very slow. Reminds me of encoding a DVD using a AMD64.

I've been meaning to give topaz a try

 

[cvaldes]

Okay, the AaronFeng version of Waifu2x. Thank you, I'll download it. I was looking at this a month ago but I didn't actually try it. I also noted Topaz at the time but didn't try that one either.

As for Upscayl, it runs passably on my Mac mini M2 Pro. It does run faster on my PC with an RTX 3080 though if the Windows PC isn't powered up, the Mac is fine for doing a few images.

You really can't judge video upscaling fairly just with a still image comparison. This is now increasingly mentioned in AMD FSR v. Nvidia DLSS comparisons.

 

[evernessince]

There are higher quality upscalers like: https://github.com/the-database/mpv-upscale-2x_animejanai

The downside is that they require a beefy video card. Even the ultra compact model of the above takes 60% of a 4080.

 

[ir_cow]

I've been meaning to give topaz a try

It's amazing. A bit overpriced if you don't use it a lot. Gigapixel, Photo AI and Video AI works wonders.

For example I scanned 4x6 glass negatives from 1930~ of my grandfathers stuff. (His dad was a professional photographer in the late 1890s). It has some mold and scratches. After Photo AI. It like a new photo.

Did some video upscaling of old DVDs that never got a BD release. It looks pretty good too.

 

[cvaldes]

It's amazing. A bit overpriced if you don't use it a lot. Gigapixel, Photo AI and Video AI works wonders.

I see that Topaz offers a free trial with watermarking (a paid license removes the watermark).

I suppose I'll try it out some time but my interests are very casual, not going to shell out $300 for this functionality. I expect AI upscalers to rapidly get better and cheaper. The fact that there is already GitHub freeware makes me think that I should be surprised if I can't get better results in a year at less than a hundred bucks.

 

[ir_cow]

suppose I'll try it out some time but my interests are very casual, not going to shell out $300 for this functionality

I goes on sale a lot. Was $79 per program just a few weeks ago. I'm sure it will be back shortly

 

[cvaldes]

I goes on sale a lot. Was $79 per program just a few weeks ago. I'm sure it will be back shortly

Ah, good to know. I'll download the trial and test it out.

If it has been down as low as $79 recently, I'm sure it will go even lower in the future.

 

[unwind-protect]

I upscaled the UK DVDs of Babylon 5 (they are better than the US DVDs). The difference was astonishing.

Of course in 6 weeks we'll get the BluRays, so it was all for nothing. But good experiment.

 

[Harlow]

Thank's for the heads up about Baylon 5 release on Bluray in early December. Where I live, the Bluray box set is cheaper than the DVD box set on Amazon.

After a brief test with Adobe Premiere Pro, Sony Vegas Pro and DaVinci Resolve in December 2022, I settled on Topaz Video AI because it allowed full-screen stabilisation of my hand held videos shot from a moving jeep on dirt roads. At the time, other programs cropped heavily to reduce shaky video and I wanted to keep the full view. The AI in Topaz looks at adjacent frames and does a good job recreating missing detail around the edge of each frame.

The other options I find useful when processing shaky hand-held video in Topaz are 'Rolling Shutter Correction' and 'Reduce Jittery Motion', although these add hugely to the processing time. As an example, when upscaling a 1 hour 10 minute Youtube concert video from 1080p (HD) to 2160p (4K) with both corrections applied, it took 36 hours on an AMD 7950X + RTX 3060 system. If you have an RTX 4090, you should be able to at least halve the time compared to the RTX 3060.

For normal upscaling where the camera position is static or professionally hand held, 'Rolling Shutter Correction' and 'Reduce Jittery Motion' are not required, so processing time is much faster. Depending on quality, it's possible to achieve good results upscaling from 720p or 1080p up to 2160p (4K). Similarly, if you can rip the original DVDs with Handbrake set to extra high quality, e.g. RF16, you can often upscale to 1080p with acceptable results. Topaz can upscale even higher than 4K, but I've not tried these options.

What I liked about Topaz was how easy it was to perform actions. Agreed, the $300 price can be off putting, but you could wait for the next special offer.

 

[ir_cow]

Thank's for the heads up about Baylon 5 release on Bluray in early December. Where I live, the Bluray box set is cheaper than the DVD box set on Amazon.

A little bit off topic, but I suggest looking into Babylon 5 Blu ray before buying. It's the same HBO MAX digital that has been out for 2 years now. Cropped down to 4:3 when it was shot for wide-screen (16:9), while the CGI has not been redone or upscaled. It's just 16:9 inside 4:3. Tiny tiny lol. Don't buy this cash grab. These companies need to do it properly or not at all

 

[Harlow]

Thanks for the latest Babylon 5 info. After checking this site describing how they stretched 4:3 CGI to fit 16:9 screens, together with genuine 16:9 closeups, I won't be wasting my money on the Bluray box set.
https://www.engadget.com/babylon-5-original-4-3-ratio-video-150022687.html?guccounter=1

Instead I'll continue to watch the cropped 4:3 format I originally saw when the series came out on TV. One of my pet hates is 4:3 footage stretched to fit a widescreen TV. Vehicle wheels become ovals instead of circles and peoples' bodies and faces look unnaturally wide. I might track down some cropped (undistorted) 4:3 DVDs and see if they're worth upscaling, although converting the whole series will add to my electricity bill.

I forgot to mention that Topaz Video AI can convert pixel dimensions from anamorphic to square if you so desire. Some of my old camcorder tapes were recorded at 1440 x 1080i PAL, but play back at 16:9 on a normal 1920 x 1080 HD TV. When stabilising, Topaz Video AI can upscale the horizontal dimension from 1440 to 1920 pixels without distorting the image and change from 25fps interlaced to 50fps progressive scan.

 

[ir_cow]

There is wide-screen DVD of B5 out there. Idk what edition it is though.

 

[unwind-protect]

I'm canceling my Blu Ray B5 order, too.