Tuesday, February 26, 2013

DNGMonochrome 0.9.7 released

Changes & Improvements
  • Changes the algorithms to one new one with option to go for a more sharper result
  • Improves the switching between precooked and cooked preview by keeping the cooked preview in memory... this means when switching to the cooked preview, only the first time it will take a few seconds... subsequent switches from precooked to cooked are a lot faster now...
  • Changes the size of the preview images to slightly bigger
  • Improves and speeds up border interpolation (first and last two rows and columns of the photo)... previous method could produce artifacts...


Dropped
  • Drops the median filters
  • Drops the presets
  • Drops the 'beautifying' step in the red and blue RAW conversion, since due to the new algorithm that didn't add noticeable benefits anymore... as a consequence the red and blue RAW conversions are a lot faster now...


Bug fixes
  • After clicking on 'I see dead pixels...' and closing the window, the underlying image still in the preview would be invalidated, leading to crashes if you tried to change any of the settings (brightness, gamma etc.)


Additions
  • Adds pre-interpolation noise reduction options for the secondary channels
  • Adds noise reduction option for the final image
  • Adds noise reduction option for the RAW red and RAW blue when used in filtering
  • Adds option to batch process photos... select multiple DNGs by Shift-Click or CTRL-click in the list on the left - note that noise reduction is not possible in batch processing, auto-save needs to be switched on, and no preview of any of the processed photos will be shown...
  • Adds support for the Canon EOS 500D (at user request)
  • Adds support for the Leica M (note that this support is based on pre-production DNGs)
  • Adds option to skip the interpolation and go for a resize, only keeping parts of the green channel... this leads to 25% of the original photo (50% of the original width and 50% of the original height) keeping only the luminance pixels. It's mainly useful if you intend to downscale the original (smaller than 50% of the original size or width). You get the true luminance result without interpolation. You can still use all the filter options, since the red RAW and blue RAW are also resized, and perfectly overlap the regular result. For DNGs of the Leica M9, this option leads to a regular result that would be equivalent to the output of a 4.5mp black & white sensor. You can also use this option as a quick preview, since it's faster than interpolating. Then, after getting to the desired result (e.g. the right filter settings), turn the option off and make the final copy. Don't use this option if you intend to print the result.



Some remarks on the noise reduction

You have to interpolate your photo at least once to make the noise reduction button become available. Changing any setting (filters, sharpness, re-size) will reset the noise reduction preview, and you'll have to reprocess your photo to make the button available again.

Note that the sliders in the noise reduction work differently compared to Lightroom. If you push them nothing is changed. You have to release the slider first.

The buttons to turn off specific options (the little buttons behind the sliders) only work on the preview. If you turn off say the regular noise reduction through the button and you reprocess the photo, the noise reduction is still applied.


The balance slider

The balance slider is slightly experimental and it's difficult to explain what it does exactly, without going into the details of the noise reduction algorithm itself. A simple way of explaining: it you push it to the right (the + setting) you start favoring the 'lighter' noise. If you push it to the left (the - setting) you start favoring the 'darker' noise. And with favoring I mean: it's reduced less. The balance slider can bring back additional detail in e.g. highlights, but at the cost of less noise reduction in other parts of the photo. It has quite a heavy impact, so if you feel the noise reduction isn't really noticeable, check the balance slider to see if it's in a + or - setting and move it back to the middle (0).


Download

You can download the new version of DNGMonochrome here.


And as always...

Do check back soon to see if there were any bugs I missed.

Also quite soon on this blog some ramblings about the new stuff I've been experimenting with...

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