OpenVINO is still a little bit blurry than cpu mode only.
If youāre still under Win7, then maybe consider using GAI 4.9.x? Having SkylakeX CPU I noticed that this helped - adding permanent environment variable OPENCV_IPP=AVX2, otherwise GAI crashed for me with illegal instruction exception. This environment variable forces OpenCV libraries to use AVX2, not AVX-512 (in my case).
5.1.6 seems to run fine for me, so Iām probably stuck at that. I did try changing the OPENCV_IPP environment variables in 5.1.7 but it had no effect on the problem. If it makes any difference, I have Intel CPU Runtime for OpenCL Applications 18.1 installed.
I donāt often batch process - I thought Iād noticed this last time I did but couldnāt be sure as I wasnāt really paying attention, but this time I was watching. The first image in a batch appears to be processed twice while the remainder are only processed once. This is the result of a batch I just did, all starting and finishing at the same size - note the time for the first image compared to the rest of them:
We only tweaked the OpenVINO library, it wasnāt fully upgraded. Gigapixel AI is still on the 2020 version.
Holy cow I wonder what the heck is happening then! 
Just installed Topaz Denoise AI 2.3.2 that has updated OpenVINO libraries.
I was expecting to see the same issue as Gigapixel, but, I didnāt. Topaz Denoise AI 2.3.2 works on my setup with the updated OpenVINO libraries.
I second all messages above.
To all dev team : Please, PLEASE, PLEASE, warn user that using discrete GPU and VINO in fact change the result. It may upscale faster, but it also add artifacts (chrominance) and doesnāt upscale as good as the method by CPU only (especially for thin things like hair).
I discovered that this morning after reading this thread, so now I have to remake all my works, maybe weeks of work.
Please warn somewhere in the program that these tools that allow to go faster are not as good as the method with CPU only.
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In some cases, OpenVINO produces better results.
This is in Gigapixel 5.1.6 with automatic settings, everything is exactly the same, only OpenVINO is being turned off and on:
Yes, sometimes.
But I tried few pictures with/without and the biggest problem with OpenVINO is that chominance artifacts appear with OpenVINO, especially with somber scenes where there are really noticeable.
A warning that GPU and CPU rendering will not produce identical results is definitely warranted. Itās not intuitive at all, and I think that since GPU rendering is so much faster most people are probably getting inferior results from the software. Thereās probably less of a gap for landscapes but in my experience upscaling human faces the improvement from using CPU is very noticeable.
Being able to run previews on the GPU while doing final processing on CPU would be a huge user experience improvement. It gives you the best of both worlds - fast previews and accurate final results.
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Updated, FYI the program no longer works, been using for about a year now but upon trying to change the Suppress Noise or Remove Blur settings, the program closes. When trying to apply and save, using the defaults, program closes.
Please go to Help-> Graphics info, press Copy and paste the info here.
I have some stuff to post relating to the problem on my setup. Although it appears to be happening to only me, it still might be useful because it may cause functional issues in general, related to a possible bug.
I installed Gigapixel 5.1.6, then created a x64dbg log with it running a preview with OpenVINO enabled. I then uninstalled it, and installed 5.1.7 in the exact same location, with the exact same settings. I then created a x64dbg log following the exact same steps, with the exact same image, as I did with 5.1.6.
While the logs have differences, the main one that I suspect points to the issue, involves teupsampling.dll.
I turn off auto update in Gigapixel. So, I click the āupdateā button to update the preview. When the result is rendered to screen, in 5.1.6 (which works properly), the following exception appears in the logs:
EXCEPTION_DEBUG_INFO:
dwFirstChance: 1
ExceptionCode: E06D7363 (CPP_EH_EXCEPTION)
ExceptionFlags: 00000001
ExceptionAddress: 000007FEFD7BB87D kernelbase.000007FEFD7BB87D
NumberParameters: 4
ExceptionInformation[00]: 0000000019930520
ExceptionInformation[01]: 000000000A298100
ExceptionInformation[02]: 000007FEDAE24D60 teupsampling.000007FEDAE24D60
ExceptionInformation[03]: 000007FED9B20000 teupsampling.000007FED9B20000
First chance exception on 000007FEFD7BB87D (E06D7363, CPP_EH_EXCEPTION)!
This exception, does not appear in the 5.1.7 logs. Thatās weird, since 5.1.6 produces correct output, but 5.1.7 produces distorted output.
I tried processing an image in Gigapixel 5.1.7 with the scale factor set to 1.00x. When I do this with OpenVINO enabled, I do not get distorted output. That does seem to point to teupsampling.dll being the problem.
The image distortions that Iām getting look like the kind of distortions you typically see when using unsupported graphics cards, or unsupported graphics drivers. I am wondering, if the OpenVINO ātweaksā made by the developers with 5.1.7 are now making teupsampling.dll try to use some kind of graphics hardware or something, which is not present on the machine, since itās a non GPU machine. That could explain the above exception with 5.1.6.
I really have no idea what Iām doing, so of course Iām just guessing.
Here are the x64dbg logs, if anyone is interested:
gigapixel_5_1_6_x64dbg_log.txt (41.4 KB)
gigapixel_5_1_7_x64dbg_log.txt (40.3 KB)
I would suggest, doing a āFileā ā āCompareā in UltraEdit to make it easier to compare the two logs.
Hereās a zip of application logs + images, for anyone who feels like comparing notes:
Also, FYI, the exception shown in status bar (CPP_EH_EXCEPTION) is a special exception code used to implement C++ exceptions (throw/catch) and usually does not indicate a bug or vulnerability, and is simply passed to the program to handle it.
Yeah, I have no idea, but, it is a difference I noted in the logs.
I didnāt realize I had a private message from Taylor Bishop (which has been sitting there for 8 daysā¦ I am an idiot). He sent me an OpenVINO.zip archive via Dropbox that contains the previous version of OpenVINO. He wanted me to try unzipping it into the Gigapixel 5.1.7 application directory and see if it fixes the problem. Unfortunately, it doesnāt. I still suspect the problem is with teupsampling.dll. It did change in version 5.1.7.
Donāt see the help menu, even in the drop down. I uninstalled, and reinstalled. Same issue. How do I install 5.1.6?
Application & Version: Topaz Gigapixel AI Version 5.1.7
Operating System: Windows 10 (10.0)
Graphics Hardware: GeForce GTX 1650/PCIe/SSE2
OpenGL Driver: 3.3.0 NVIDIA 452.06
CPU RAM: 32472 MB
Video RAM: 4096 MB
Preview Limit: 6371 Pixels
OK Figured it out. Summary: I simply upgraded from v5.1.6 to .7 and product closed every time I tried to save (kind of the point). I changed Enable Intel OpenVINO from YES to NO. And not it is processing (saving) an image now.
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The new version is full of bugs. For example, after batch processing, the program closes automatically. Many photos become cluttered. Th follows are just two example:
Main pic:
After enlargement to 1080 Pixel:
Main Pic:
After enlargement to 1080 Pixel:
I used default settings.
Windows 7 x64
RAM: 16 GB
