Topaz Denoise has faced serious competition from the latest update of DxO Photolab to version 4. If you look through the forums, you will only find enthusiastic users who consistently declare it’s better than Topaz Denoise.
Unfortunately, I could only try it with external photos because I’m using Fuji X-Trans. And there the results were not better. But it seems that especially in the high-iso range better results can be achieved.
Maybe a motivation for Topaz Labs to rework the completely useless RAW module, probably an external library which Topaz Labs do not program themselves
So, let’s say the limitation of DXO is that you have to have a camera recognized by the program. But there are many such cameras, and for these DXO offers not only results comparable to DeNoise AI but also properly works with GPU (no artifacts) and as such provides results faster.
I have DXO v 2.0 and the interface is horrible to put it mildly, nor have they made any improvements to the Nik Collection. The Optical research they have done is very good, but the confused program interface makes it difficult to quickly pickup and use the program, hence I’m far more satisfied with Photoshop which has a far better interface leading to greater ease of learning and ease of use.
I have tested it and it isn’t any better than DeNoise AI and if you use it on pics from cameras with larger pixel sizes it simply doesn’t cut it. For example Canon 1D series and Sony A7S series.
This is a quote from the fstoppers review and also repeats DXO claims:
"DeepPRIME works best with raw files shot at high ISO settings and photos taken with small sensor cameras with small photosites. DxO says it is especially effective for photos taken in low light, especially those which need brightening, and images taken on older, previous generation cameras. Claiming better color details and more natural transitions, the company says DeepPRIME offers a gain of two ISO steps for the same levels of image quality.
The only downside of this high-powered processing is that the results can only be previewed in a small window and images must be processed and exported as JPEG or TIFF files."
Please, if you say something, make sure that it is correct and you can prove it so. I have seen some comments on this forum that are just unbelievable.
I have had DXO studio mainly for the denoise since version 7. (yes, that long)
Now I never look at it since I have Topaz’ AI version.
I only use it for perspective correction and some esoteric stuff now. The Nik tools work just fine if you invoke them from Lightroom or Exposure. I was soo disappointed when i paid for my last upgrade to DXO 2.5 , thinking it would do lovely integration of the Nik tools but it didn’t, it only integrated the selection tools but it never worked as well.
Here is my friends dog just AFTER sunset on Wednesday.
I tried to adjust the remove color noise slider but it won’t remove “low frequency color noise” unless I move the slider to extremely high value and it remove all color include the subject.
May be I did something wrong. Hope someone can help me solve the problem. Thanks
One question: how did you load the RAW file into DeNoise: directly or previously converted to jpg?
If direct, in my experience you will get worse results, even with the low frequency color noise.That’s why I have gotten into the habit of removing the color noise by developing the RAW file in another program and then denoising the JPG or TIFF file.
So, I open the RAW file in Photoshop first and apply the Denoise AI filter.
I also tried export the RAW to TIFF first in PS, then open in Denoise AI, the result is the same.
With Photoshop I have now tested this and used the possibility to remove the color noise.
Afterwards I denoised the picture with Topaz Denoise. I would like to show you the result, but I don’t have the permission to add pictures to my post, I don’t understand why.
Now I tested it again with my preferred workflow for underexposed Fuji Raw Photos (ISO 6400):
First development in Capture One (no sharpening, no denoising for luminance, denoising for color by default) and then denoising in Topaz DeNosie (70 remove noise, sharpen on demand).
I think the result is a bit better, because a little bit more detail or at least as good. I would also like to show this, but I can’t.
But to put the whole thing in perspective for me:
Dxo Photolab’s Deep Prime Filter does it extremely well and, above all, much faster.
But unfortunately not for Fuji RAW.
Apart from that, I’m not a friend of DxO Photolab, many sliders don’t give good results.
The only unique feature are the control points for local adjustment. This is a feature I use from time to time, but more often with Nik Collection
I have never seen so much colour noise in a raw file not even with my d2x at it’s highest setting.
To be honest maybe it has something to do with your sensor. I have never seen an ARW file before so I’m not really an expert. I don’t get good results with scanned images either, because denoise AI has extreme trouble with film grain.
in you r case the only thing that worked more or less was AI clear.
