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Questions and Answers

Below are some of the most frequently asked and answered questions about Neat Video. Please feel free to ask questions regarding Neat Video by e-mail or in the Neat Video community forum.

General questions

What is the difference between Demo, Home and Pro editions?

The Demo plug-in has some functional limitations. For example, it can only process short video sequences with limited frame size. Please see the detailed Feature map for more details.

Should I uninstall Demo plug-in prior to installing Home / Pro plug-in/edition?

This is not necessary. You can install the Home / Pro plug-in over the Demo plug-in.

If you would still like to uninstall the Demo plug-in please follow these steps.

  • Windows: use the "Uninstall" shortcut in the Windows Start menu:
    Start | Programs | Neat Video v4 for <HostName> | Uninstall
  • Mac OS X: start the "Uninstall.app" available in this folder:
    /Applications/Neat Video v4 for <HostName>/
  • Linux: use the "Uninstall" shortcut
    (or run "uninstall" available in /usr/local/Neat Video v4 <HostName>/ ).

Should I uninstall the older version of Neat Video prior to installing a newer one?

 That is not necessary. A newer version can be installed directly. It will either replace the old version (if it is an update of the old version) or will be installed and work alongside the old version (if it is a new major version).

 

I think I have found a bug. How can I submit a report about the problem?

Please use the online bug report form; please fill it out to let us know all the details necessary to reproduce the problem.

Before reporting a bug check the known issues page and the list of fixes in release history of a specific Neat Video product.

Filtration-related questions

Why do I receive some crystal-like artifacts in the filtered frame?

The crystal-like artifacts (usually these are the residual compression artifacts or residual noise) look like thin lines in the filtered frame. They can be easily eliminated by increasing the high frequency noise level in the filter settings (Neat Video should work in the Advanced mode to enable this control, see Tools | Advanced mode).

Note: presence of many residual artifacts is usually a consequence of using a poorly built, inaccurate noise profile or a profile built for another device and/or device mode. Please see the user guide for tips on building accurate profiles.

Filtered frame looks 'plastic'. Why?

The reason is that too much filtration has been applied. Let Neat Video keep some noise to produce more natural-looking results. Adjust the noise reduction amounts; for example, set the Noise Reduction Amount: Luminance control to 30-50%.

Also, make sure the device noise profile does match the input image processed. Using an incorrectly chosen or poorly built noise profile can either produce plastic-looking results or leave residual artifacts (see the previous question).

What is frequency?

The term (spatial) frequency is used in Neat Video to denote elements of a video sequence (both important details and noise/grain) of certain size.

High frequency corresponds to elements of smallest size.
Medium (mid) frequency corresponds to elements of medium size.
Low, Very Low and Ultra Low frequency correspond to elements of correspondingly larger sizes.

For reference, see the noise samples of different frequencies in the Noise Filter Settings tab of the Neat Video window.

The filtration process is not very fast, is this normal?

This is normal, because the filtration algorithm is quite complex. We are working on further optimization to provide better performance.

How to filter only the color noise (not the brightness noise)?

When the YCrCb spaces are used, set the value of the Y channel noise reduction amount (in the Noise Filter Settings box) to 0%. That will switch off filtration in the brightness (luminance) channel Y.

What is YCrCb?

YCrCb is the name of a family of color spaces widely used in television, video, digital imaging, etc. In 'YCrCb', 'Y' corresponds to the luminance channel, 'Cr' — to the Cr chrominance channel covering the red to blue-green color range, 'Cb' — to the Cb chrominance channel covering the blue to yellow color range. Because this space enables easy separation of the luminance and chrominance information, it is very suitable to conduct noise reduction.

Is processing via Neat Video best done before or after any other processing (i.e. tonal/color correction)?

Such operations as tonal/color correction are quite conservative from the standpoint of noise, i.e., they do not significantly change the noise characteristics of the video sequence. Therefore, filtering before or after makes little difference — as long as the noise profile is built and applied at the same stage of your workflow. For example, don’t use a device noise profile built with an unprocessed (the color correction is not yet applied) video sequence to filter the same sequence with the color correction applied.

On the other hand, certain effects, like sharpening or resampling, applied to a noisy video sequence may considerably change its noise properties. In this sense, it is generally better to use Neat Video filtration before applying such effects.