Topaz Ai Denoise Review

[Alyssa Dipiero]

I've owned lots of image de-noisers over the years. I've used external apps, Photoshop/Lightroom plugins, and I've used the noise reductions controls built into Photoshop and Lightroom. They all work to some degree, but you wind up trading noise reduction for details, and I've never found a noise reduction aid that didn't have some rather large trade-offs. Increase the noise reduction and details suffer. Preserve the details and the noise reduction is not effective. Many of you know the drill.

Over the years, I used the Topaz DeNoise plugin with fair to good results, and now, it's been updated to Topaz DeNoise AI. Its claim to fame is Topaz inspected thousands of noisy images and added AI smarts to help this new app/plugin know the difference between noise and actual data in an image.

Most of my imaging is in low light, as I do almost all my landscape work around sunrise and sunset. Working in reduced light and at high ISOs are an invitation to noise. Camera sensors are getting better and better, but there was not a single image I fed DeNoise AI that was not improved, even when inspecting the image at high magnifications.

I also do a lot of night photography, capturing the Milky Way, and I also do some telescope-based imaging. Looking at those images, again, I found DeNoise AI significantly reduced the noise with no visible degradation of detail. You can see below how the sky is cleaned up in this enlargement without doing damage to the stars. (It may be hard to see the improvement in these samples because I'm limited to small compressed files for uploading, but you can download large samples at the Topaz site.)

I can report that if you use the sliders in DeNoise AI aggressively, you're going to lose some detail, add some halos, or increase sharpness to the degree that you may see some micro-image breakup. Having said that, I never had to push those sliders very hard, because using the split screen feature and looking at the image at 400 percent magnification, I could easily find a setting where image grain (noise) was made invisible and I was not losing detail.

Topaz offers a 30-day free trial of the software, so you can judge for yourself. Until May 3rd, the software is $59.00, and after that, it jumps back to a list price of $79.00. Users of the older Topaz DeNoise are getting offers of a free upgrade, so check the Topaz site and see if you qualify or watch for an email offer.

I found Topaz DeNoise AI a significant achievement in noise reduction. It's not completely automatic, and the processing is not instant; it can take several seconds to see the result, but the wait is worth it,

If you are a photographer fighting noise, I suggest you try the free trial of DeNoise AI. No noise reduction tool is 100 percent effective, but this one comes really, really close. I'm not easily impressed, and this noise solution impressed me.

Have you tried other apps like Noise Ninja or Imagenomic Noiseware? Wasn't sure if this article was a paid product placement ad since there's no mention of similar alternatives. (Both are very good as well)

I just tried DeNoise AI on some 12800 ISO images I shot at the theater, and the noise reduction is much better than the latest Camera Raw, but previews and saving, as Paul stated, were definitely slow. Another downside is the DNG file I saved was 100Mb larger than the original CR2 file. It would also be nice if there was a batch process feature, so you could let your system churn through a lot of similar photos.

"I've never found a noise reduction aid that didn't have some rather large trade-offs"
It would be helpful to know what you have used. I suspect you haven't used DxO PhotoLab 2 Elite, widely regarded as having perhaps the best noise reduction among RAW processors available today. I tested PhotoLab's predecessor (Optics Pro), Aperture, Capture One and Lightroom several years ago, and DxO outclassed the rest in noise reduction by a large margin. I was using Topaz DeNoise at the time and found it very effective, but it required a great deal of user intervention for every single image, whereas DxO produced equally good or better results with no user intervention at all.

Very interesting article!
I just published a test a made about the best noise reduction software (Testing Loghtroom, Photoshop, Luminar, DXO, Capture One, Dfine 2, Noiseware, Topaz Denoise, Noise Ninja and Neat image pro) and the best at eliminating noise in skies while preserving details was without a doubt Noiseware. Below you can see the graphic results after testing the same image with all types of software: -reduction-software/

Topaz may be their own worst enemy in that several of their products have denoise sliders. And "Clairity AI" is made specifically for noise (and sharpness), leaving a person to wonder which product to choose and why. And yes, I've used DXO's "prime" noise reduction and it's quite good. A big comparison test is really what's called for.

Hmmm, being that I already owned Topaz DeNoise and so qualified for a free upgrade, I downloaded and tried it. I would say that it depends on the image. I tried it on a rather noisy image of a darkened room (see attached image), and it seemed to get rid of some of the paneling detail below the books. Settings are default, without touching the sliders, but even trying the sliders only marginally improved the image. The previous version DeNoise 6, probably made a better fist of the image set to 'Light Jpeg' setting.

So I decided to run a comparison test on the single image that you see below, with the intention of ending up with four images that will show you the difference between not using any noise reduction at all, using Nik Define, using Topaz DeNoise and using Topaz DeNoise A.l. Clear (an even more sophisticated version of DeNoise whose results vary whereas the standard DeNoise applies the same level of noise reduction for each image).

My personal opinion based on the results above is that Topaz DeNoise was by far the most effective in reducing the noise in the image above and by a large margin, especially when compared to my current noise reduction plug in, Nik Define. As such, I shall be purchasing the Topaz DeNoise for 65.00 immediately as I genuinely believe that it will benefit my editing process, especially as there appears to be no loss of sharpness and definition in the image too.

You can try the Topaz DeNoise editing software free of charge for yourself for 30 days and for those interested, I have no affiliation with Topaz or their products.
www.topazlabs.com/denoise-ai/

Do you use Lightroom by any chance Melvin? I was wondering if I could install Topaz so that it works as a plug-in, in the same way as the Nic ones do? I would expect Topaz will have designed it so that this would be possible.
Thanks,
Mick

I typically refrain from reviewing software since functionality and technology evolve even more rapidly than new cameras and lenses. Nevertheless, occasionally, a standout piece deserves a thorough exploration. Topaz AI is a prime example of this.

Opting for caution not to disrupt my existing workflow, I went for the free trial of the standalone version. The interface and outcomes proved to be remarkably impressive, offering diverse options and the capability to process a broad range of RAW formats while retaining full editability with DNG output. Convinced by its performance, I proceeded to acquire the full version along with the Lightroom plugin.

Selecting your raw file and launching Topaz opens the RAW file without your LR edits. This is the best way to work, as there are no effect clashes. Output as a DNG version, and once automatically imported as a separate file in LR, you have full control, the same as with native RAW.

I picked a random image from a recent photo safari. I knew the high-resolution sample would allow for careful detail checking, especially since I would be selecting just a small part of the full frame.

Observing the image, it appeared reasonably sharp, and I successfully achieved focus lock. When I zoomed in to a 200% view in LR, I realized I had captured something quite unique. I had caught the Black Crested Snake Eagle blinking, revealing a moment when half of its eye was covered with a nictitating membrane. This membrane moves horizontally and is semi-transparent, unlike a solid top-to-bottom membrane.

Here a standard 85% sharpening and 14% minor denoise have been selected. The beak, eye and head have been well rendered. The throat feathers are soft but not a concern, minor denoise has reduced some background artifacts.

The autopilot selected lens blur gave a very good result with an increase in overall sharpness higher than both the standard and strong setting. It also maintained a softness on the body feathers without excess noise or the image looking overworked.

The subject is relatively static with a shutter speed of 1/5000 subject. Movement caused by wind on the branches should be minimal. The 200-400 is relatively well supported so lens blur should also be minimum, VR is off due to the support.

In this test, the image gained an advantage by avoiding subject masking and letting Topaz render the entire image using the Motion Blur mode on autopilot. This proves to be an excellent method for addressing challenging conditions, such as haze, where even professional lenses may not deliver perfect results.

The complete original image appears satisfactory, but I aimed to enhance its impact through cropping. I thought Topaz could assist in preserving quality, enhancing sharpness, and minimizing noise for large-scale printing. Here is the unaltered full original image alongside the motion blur mode, with a focus on the protected elephant to the left.

With over three decades of experience capturing wildlife, I am discerning when it comes to selecting subjects and curating images for sale and marketing. The challenges inherent in shooting scenes often push professional equipment to its limits, contending with factors like haze, dust, varying angles of light, cropping considerations, shooting at maximum focal length wide open, and employing high ISO settings during peak animal activity. Unfortunately, these variables are often beyond our control.

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