How do they do that?

[dogsx2]

Don't know if this is the right place to ask, if not mods please move to the right place.

On TV they will show someone on a computer blowing up a small picture to where you can see something very small in the picture large with detail. Is that software or what? I saw a picture of a cpu that I could just read the AMD on it but wasn't able to read the stepping on it. Is there a cheap way to blow it up and still be able to read it?

[dogsx2]

Nobody knows?

[Vapor]

Interestingly...the best solution is actually an Intel alpha-app that takes about 6 hours to process a single 640x480 image from a cell phone. It's not available to the public, the stuff you see on TV isn't real.

[skuliaxe]

There are apps that say that it can zoom up to 800% in an image and still keep it´s clarity... but it´s not totaly true.

PhotoZoom Profesional (http://www.shortcutinc.com/cms/index.php?id=56&sl=US) (Examples on bottom of page) is one of them but I wasn´t happy with the Trial results so I didn´t buy.

For example, there was VERY little difference in using that program and then just using:
Windows Picture and Fax Viewer
Zoom in
Print Screen
Paste in photo software.

Hope those people at PhotoZoom didn´t waste alot of time coding that software, because it just doens´t do anything special.

P.s.: I get better/clearer pictures when Zooming inn, in the Windows Photo software than in Photoshop and other product.

P.p.s: Mega software like in the movies (when a blurry picture is zoomed and made very clear) is just not possible. There are always X pixeles with data in a picture. A program can smooth them to make it look better/sharper, but it can´t just make, let´s say a number plate on a car clear all of a sudden...

[Aphex_Tom_9]

yeah i know the kinda thing you're talking about, it's all faked, that tech isnt really reliably available yet.

[BlueWonder]

You can get resampling with photoshop resizing but thats the best you can really do other than examining it closely with a zoom.

All that crap on the movies where they take a pixelated video still and then through the power of magic give it clarity is BS.

[Vapor]

The best way, I've found, to clearly zoom is to play with the resize setting on photoshop (bicubic sharper and smoother specifically) and then do a reduce noise and then do a sharpen. Not just regular old reduce noise and sharpens though....Noise Ninja noisereduction and USM settings (or any other sharpening plugin--photoshop's native ones aren't the greatest).

Of course, it's not going to clarify any data that isn't there ;)

[trakslacker]

yep, the stuff you see on CSI or whatever where a cop says "Zoom in on that bracelet", and then some technician zooms in on a bracelet and suddnetly clears up the image to reveal a readable serial number on a medical ID bracelet, and all of this is done from security camera footage, is just fake. Any digital picture has a given number is pixels, and there is simply no way to pull new additonal detail from an image of a given resolution.

[lawrywild]

Kneson Imagener is pretty good, they have some vector one or something now

[ProphetX]

You guys remember that Will Smith movie " Enemy of the State" Well the zoom effects that they did on the video footage is pretty real.

[ProphetX]

There are apps that say that it can zoom up to 800% in an image and still keep it´s clarity... but it´s not totaly true.

PhotoZoom Profesional (http://www.shortcutinc.com/cms/index.php?id=56&sl=US) (Examples on bottom of page) is one of them but I wasn´t happy with the Trial results so I didn´t buy.

For example, there was VERY little difference in using that program and then just using:
Windows Picture and Fax Viewer
Zoom in
Print Screen
Paste in photo software.

Hope those people at PhotoZoom didn´t waste alot of time coding that software, because it just doens´t do anything special.

P.s.: I get better/clearer pictures when Zooming inn, in the Windows Photo software than in Photoshop and other product.

P.p.s: Mega software like in the movies (when a blurry picture is zoomed and made very clear) is just not possible. There are always X pixeles with data in a picture. A program can smooth them to make it look better/sharper, but it can´t just make, let´s say a number plate on a car clear all of a sudden...


BTW this app looks promising. This feature should be built into photshop

[ahmad]

I imagine what probably happened is they had a large picture in the first place that was down sized to fit the screen, and it just showed more upon zooming in. But thats not anything fancy..

[Mr. Tinker]

I can't believe that people fall for that crap. You can't extract any more information from an image than what is already there.

[Delirious]

Its all fake, u cant make detail where there is none. You can use resampling and sharpening but that will only get u so far, like vapor said.

Photoshops usm is every bit as good as those third party expensive pluggins. What the pluggins/programs do for you is run all the steps and take the thinking out of it. If someone really knew what they were doing they could duplicate what those programs do, it would just take longer.

Photoshop CS2 has noise reduction built into it now, i havent tried it out yet on mine, but i have heard its really good.

The best way, I've found, to clearly zoom is to play with the resize setting on photoshop (bicubic sharper and smoother specifically) and then do a reduce noise and then do a sharpen. Not just regular old reduce noise and sharpens though....Noise Ninja noisereduction and USM settings (or any other sharpening plugin--photoshop's native ones aren't the greatest).

Of course, it's not going to clarify any data that isn't there ;)

[Vapor]

CS2's new noise reduction algorithm is EXCELLENT. The one advantage, as you say, to third party plugins is how easy they are to use. PictureCode's Noise Ninja even has profiles for certain cameras/scanners that are AMAZINGLY spot-on. The algorithm is different that CS2's and is slower but also more effective in ~25% of cases (notably where texture detail is an issue).

A combo of smart sharpen and USM in CS2 will do as well as third party plugins, but it is a lot more work to tailor for each image and to perform both than to just use a plugin. In some rare cases, especially with low-res and jpeg artifacts, it's very hard to get the built-in algorithms to sharpen effectively.

Mr. Tinker (and, well, everybody), there actually is a way with known digi-cam profiles to extract info that isn't there but it is EXTREMELY CPU intensive (think of a multi-day process on even the fastest processors) and you'll only gain ~70% more detail.

[Kobalt]

I love in 24 when they take a liscense plate shot that looks like a grey box and turn it into a perfectly clear image in less than 3 seconds. :rolleyes:

[Mr. Tinker]

Mr. Tinker (and, well, everybody), there actually is a way with known digi-cam profiles to extract info that isn't there but it is EXTREMELY CPU intensive (think of a multi-day process on even the fastest processors) and you'll only gain ~70% more detail.

If you are extracting it, then it was already there.

[pissboy]

it works better when you click on the button and say "enhance" at the same time.. ;)

[Vapor]

If you are extracting it, then it was already there.No, it really does pull info that *isn't* there. It's an extremely advanced form of interpolation based off reverse-engineered camera-specific algorithms. You can't just give it any picture you want and say "give me more clarity and lots more resolution." Its main uses are on text clarification, or anywhere where solids and edges are a factor, not on facial or texture elucidation.

[Rogier]

There are apps that say that it can zoom up to 800% in an image and still keep it´s clarity... but it´s not totaly true.

PhotoZoom Profesional (Examples on bottom of page) is one of them but I wasn´t happy with the Trial results so I didn´t buy.

For example, there was VERY little difference in using that program and then just using:
Windows Picture and Fax Viewer
Zoom in
Print Screen
Paste in photo software.

Hope those people at PhotoZoom didn´t waste alot of time coding that software, because it just doens´t do anything special.

P.s.: I get better/clearer pictures when Zooming inn, in the Windows Photo software than in Photoshop and other product.

P.p.s: Mega software like in the movies (when a blurry picture is zoomed and made very clear) is just not possible. There are always X pixeles with data in a picture. A program can smooth them to make it look better/sharper, but it can´t just make, let´s say a number plate on a car clear all of a sudden...
I'm the maker of PhotoZoom Professional (http://www.benvista.com/photozoompro/) and I think you haven't checked out our software very well :)

The examples on your link are not representative, if you look around on our own website (http://www.benvista.com/) (or use this direct link (http://www.benvista.com/photozoompro/examples/)) you'll see some actual 400% enlargements with the S-Spline algorithm compared to Bicubic which Photoshop uses.

When you say you didn't get any differences, are you sure you actually enlarged the photo with PhotoZoom Professional, and not just messing around with the preview zooming? (see screenshot (http://img271.imageshack.us/img271/5193/pzpzoom6ij.jpg)).
Also you should make sure to use the latest version (see download page (http://www.benvista.com/downloads/)).

The preview as you see it on-screen will be exactly as what you save. And unless you have a very vague original with no detail or anything, there will be a BIG difference compared to Picture Viewer and simply zooming in.

Your last comment is right, ofcourse no software can do wonders, and detail that isn't there in the first place cannot be magically created out of thin air. However when looking to the original data in an intelligent way, there's more that can be recovered than you might think. The original edges and contours of an image can be reconstructed very well, maintaining the original details and sharpess (which is exactly what our S-Spline algorithm does in PhotoZoom Professional) instead of the jagged and blurred edges you get with Photoshop or Picture Viewer. Everyone can understand that the CSI Miami trickery is obviously fake, but our software has actually been used by medical institutes and police departments for forensic applications, and we received lotsa positive feedback from surprised customers!

Cheers! ;)

[Rogier]

BTW this app looks promising. This feature should be built into photshop
Thanks. We have tried convincing Adobe of this in the past, no luck so far :(

I've actually been working on an improved version of the S-Spline algorithm the last few months, and we hope to release a new version of the software soon. After that we might try again and see if we can wake someone up over at Adobe and get them interested :)