We conducted a comparison of two video upscaling tools: Topaz Labs Video AI 5 and TensorPix. Our test involved upscaling random internet videos to twice their original resolution. Here are our findings:
Ease of use
Topaz Labs Video AI 5
Topaz Labs Video AI 5 is a software that runs locally on your machine. The software was downloaded from their website and easily installed on our PC.
They have a pretty familiar UI if you ever worked in editing programs like Adobe Premiere. To start upscaling, you need to drag and drop your video to the program. On the left side you have a couple of settings.
You have a lot of parameters and sliders that you can tweak. This is good because you are in control, but a lot of functionality and technicalities can be overwhelming and unnecessary for the average user.
Setup:
⦁ Experimented with sliders to achieve optimal results
⦁ Approximately 15 minutes spent while tweaking parameters per video
TensorPix
TensorPix is an online platform for video upscaling that runs in the cloud, making it accessible to everyone. To start enhancing videos, first you need to create a free account.
Once in the app, you can easily drag and drop your videos to begin the enhancement process. You'll find several AI filters to choose from, but if you're unsure where to start, just click the magic wand icon.
This will automatically select filters that best suit your video. There's no need to fiddle with sliders or settings.
The AI automatically enhances your videos, determining the best overall output quality. This approach makes high-quality results available to everyone, without requiring any technical knowledge or manual adjustments.
Setup:
⦁ Upload time: ~3 seconds
⦁ No parameter tweaking required
⦁ Selected 2 fillers in few seconds
Quality
Topaz Labs Video AI 5
First, we dragged and dropped our test video into the program, selected the 2x Upscale option, and set 'Recover Detail' to 0. Below is our initial result:
Since the outcome wasn't satisfactory, we enabled advanced parameters and adjusted the sliders, experimenting with different settings. After 15 minutes of tweaking different parameters, these are the best results we achieved:
Here are the settings we used:
- AI Model: Proteus
- Recover Detail: 0
- Manual Parameters:
- Fix Compression: 64
- Improve Detail: 54
- Sharpen: 50
- Reduce noise: 25
- Dehalo: 0
- Anti-alias/deblur: -10
TensorPix
We dragged and dropped our test video into the web browser and selected the Deep Clean Ultra V3 and 200% Upscale Ultra filters. The process was straightforward with just two clicks, requiring no adjustment of any sliders. Here are our results:
Our settings:
- 200% Upscale Ultra
- Deep Clean Ultra V3
If we put our results side by side, you can see the quality of results are pretty much the same:
Performance
Topaz Labs Video AI 5
Topaz Labs is computer software that strongly recommends but doesn't require a GPU. Without GPU, the process is 10-100x slower. The more powerful GPU you have, the faster processing time you'll experience.
This can be problematic if you are using a PC without a dedicated GPU. Additionally, you can't upscale videos directly from other devices like smartphones.
Our performance:
- Processing time: ~2 minutes per 10 seconds of video
- Export time: ~2 minute per 10 seconds of video
- Hardware: Integrated graphics card
- Note: PC resources were fully occupied during process
TensorPix
On the other hand, TensorPix uses cloud-based GPU infrastructure to process videos. This makes it more accessible for users who don't have a powerful PC or simply want to upload their videos from a smartphone.
While processing a video may take some time, you can still use your PC for other tasks, such as editing, while TensorPix runs in the background.
- Processing time: ~2 minutes per 10 seconds of video
- Download time: ~1 second
- Note: PC remained available for other tasks during cloud processing
Parallel Processing
Video enhancement software like Topaz Labs runs directly on your computer and can handle multiple videos at once, but its performance depends a lot on your hardware. The more videos you try to process at the same time, the slower it gets.
In contrast, TensorPix uses a powerful cloud-based GPU system that can scale up its processing resources, allowing you to process more videos in parallel without a significant drop in speed. This is a key advantage of cloud-based parallel processing and is more accessible for users with less powerful computers.
Pricing
Topaz Labs Video AI 5
As you read in the performance section, Topaz Labs' processing speed is tied to your GPU. To get started, you'll need a powerful PC, typically costing around $1,500 or more. Additionally, you'll have to pay $300 for a lifetime license.
TensorPix
With TensorPix, you don't need any GPU; you upscale your videos from any device. When you create your account, you'll receive 1 free Credits.
Our pricing is straightforward: 1 credit = $1 in our pay-as-you-go plan. However, we offer more affordable options in our different plans.
Your credit usage depends on the length of your video and the number of filters you select. Longer videos and more filters will consume more credits, while shorter videos with fewer filters will use less. The relationship is directly proportional: as video length or filter count increases, so does credit consumption.
For example, you would spend about $1 per 2 minutes of video with our two main fillers: 200% upscale and deep clean selected.
Check out our pricing page if you're interested in learning more.
Conclusion
In conclusion, both Topaz Labs Video AI 5 and TensorPix offer solid video upscaling capabilities, but cater to different types of users.
Topaz Labs Video AI 5 provides a lot of manual control over the process, making it ideal for users who want to tweak every detail and have the hardware to support it. However, the steep learning curve and need for a powerful GPU may limit its accessibility.
On the other hand, TensorPix offers a more user-friendly, cloud-based solution that requires no technical know-how or high-end hardware. With automatic AI filters and seamless scalability for parallel processing, TensorPix makes video enhancement accessible to anyone, whether you're on a smartphone or a less powerful PC.
Ultimately, the choice depends on your priorities. If you value control and customization, Topaz Labs might be for you, but for ease, flexibility, and cloud efficiency, TensorPix stands out.
