Sharpen AI v2.2.4

First thing I would do is update your drivers from the NVIDIA website, current is v461.40, and see if that makes a difference. It is on the vRAM limit but it should be OK.

Did the calibration select GPU or CPU/OpenVINO?

Hi AiDon,

Now the driver is updated, and computer rebooted. No change, unfortunately.

Application & Version: Topaz Sharpen AI Version 2.2.4
Operating System: Windows 10 Version 2004
Graphics Hardware: GeForce GTX 750 Ti/PCIe/SSE2
OpenGL Driver: 3.3.0 NVIDIA 391.35
CPU RAM: 16379 MB
Video RAM: 2048 MB
Preview Limit: 4002 Pixels

Calibration selects GPU.

I am not sure where you got that from unless it is the Win 10 default, try this link to download the latest:

New drivers (461.72) are being released later today.

Hi,

Ups, it seems that I managed to download older package. One should not try thing in a rush.

The driver package was downloaded from NVidia’s website:

Now running proper version:

Application & Version: Topaz Sharpen AI Version 2.2.4
Operating System: Windows 10 Version 2004
Graphics Hardware: GeForce GTX 750 Ti/PCIe/SSE2
OpenGL Driver: 3.3.0 NVIDIA 461.72
CPU RAM: 16379 MB
Video RAM: 2048 MB
Preview Limit: 4089 Pixels

Rebooted, calibrated, and no change in behavior. I even used NVidia’s clean install option to make sure that there are no any residues of the old driver versions or profiles.

Hi,

It seems that the old problem has occurred again: If I run the software with Admin account, it works fine, but with restricted user account if simply does not work.

This has been issues before, and there was some threads on this before:

I have opened a support ticket of this again. Year ago I got response “this is how this is supposed to work”. From my perspective, graphics software that must be run as Admin is result of very bad coding and not understanding the operating system environment.

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To update the situation with the solution, as it might help other also:

  • I got fast response from Topaz team
  • Instructions (to summarize them very briefly) are
    1. uninstall Sharpen AI
    2. use regexit to remove all Sharpen AI related residues from the registry
    3. re-install Sharpen AI

This seems to solve the issues to most part. Now I can again use the Sharpen AI with restricted user account. This is very good, as it enables one to maintain user account configuration plivy according to the best practices.

There seems to be at least few bugs still lurking around, but I have reported them separately.

Is Maxwell Still supported?

I think the 750 was the first Maxwell gpu.

Yes GTX 740 is the minimum.

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So, I previously posted on having an auto-update of MAC OS to 11.2.1 occur–now corrected–and have downloaded the Sharpen AI 2.2.4. It still seems that the performance is slow, but not as slow as with OS 11.2.1, using Sharpen AI 2.2.2 (what I was previously using). Anyone else had new experiences with OS 11.2.1 and Sharpen AI 2.2.4? I’m wondering if this could be something related to my Mac’s performance in terms of specs?

I recently inherited a Windows desktop with an Intel i7, 32 GB of RAM, Samsung SSD and and the built-in Intel video card. The computer is running Windows 10 Pro.

I wonder what would be the lowest video card that would give me decent performance in this setup?

I also have an old 11 years old AIT Firepro V5800 card, I tried it and it seems that both the built-in Intel and the ATI provide similar performance in DeNoise & Sharpen.

The graphics info for both is below. Note the information says Windows 2009 as the version, the computer is up to date with 20H2, I figure this does not mater, but does it?

Thank you.

Application & Version: Topaz Sharpen AI Version 2.2.4
Operating System: Windows 10 Version 2009
Graphics Hardware: Intel(R) HD Graphics 4600
OpenGL Driver: 3.3.0 - Build 20.19.15.4531
CPU RAM: 32453 MB
Video RAM: 1500 MB
Preview Limit: 3135 Pixels

Application & Version: Topaz DeNoise AI Version 2.4.2
Operating System: Windows 10 Version 2009
Graphics Hardware: ATI FirePro V5800 (FireGL) Graphics Adapter
OpenGL Driver: 3.3.13399 Core Profile Forward-Compatible Context FireGL 15.201.1151.1008
CPU RAM: 32711 MB
Video RAM: 1024 MB
Preview Limit: 4920 Pixels

You can check the system requirements on the main website …

It depends on your definition of “decent performance”. From my prospective, image quality in GPU mode is not as good as in CPU mode. Therefore, although my Photoshop, Camera Raw, Nik Collection use GPU, all Topaz AI plugins run in CPU mode. And then, if you do not care about GPU problems (e.g. vertical banding) and mainly care of the speed, your definition of “decent performance” may differ again. I have a similar machine with GTX1650 Super, and in GPU mode the speed is quite “decent” for me (but perhaps not for you); still I switch to CPU mode quality-wise…

Sharpen just updated to 2.2.4 when i opened it to edit today - now cannot use since i get error “Missing OpenVINO model file:\tgrc\Sharpen-MotionBlur-ov-fp16.tz” :frowning: now i cannot finish my photo edits prior to an important submittal… help!

Thank you. It helps to know that CPU may give better quality. Eventually I’ll get a good video card, but for now I think I am set.

Is this an offer for new subscribers or if I already bought Topaz last year am I supposed to click on one of the windows installers? If I just re-downloaded Sharpen AI, do I still need to do anything?
David

If you check your account it will tell you if you are entitled to the upgrade.

You can also check via Help-> Check for updates

Although you cannot see much from a 550 x 237 image it seems to sharpen the focus areas which are in the background. I suspect that the focus point is actually the background on the right of the image, the left as you look at it.

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I think the program is a tool, not a magic wand. It makes it best to sharpen visible blurry lines, details etc, based on contrast. But if the blur is so much that no details are visible (like in your case), this program does not suppose to make them up from nothing. I’m actually very surprised that it could make lips on you first image so good with so little and blurry detail information.

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I too have had images where the background is in focus. I have therefore used the mask function. In your case, it might find the people automatically. Then you apply the sharpening to the faces only. In my case, I often blur the background as well, but you need another app to do that.
The couple are. actually quite badly out of focus, so SAI might not be able to rescue the shot totally.