Raise your hand if you have a tote or cabinet full of VHS childhood tapes that need remastering?
If you have any old video created on lesser technology, there’s nothing worse than the giant blurry picture you get when trying to play it on a modern 4k TV. Or blowing up a portrait, and you get the “ehh, sorry, low resolution.”
No worries, AI video upscalers are here to help!
Unlike those “old school” video upscalers that would cost a pretty penny to upscale your old videos and photos, these options have been trained with the power of artificial intelligence to improve quality on a larger scale. This reminds me similarly of the awesome video generators that are being created.
If you’re in the market for the best AI video Upscaler, I’ve tested them for you. Let’s see the results.
Table of Contents:
What Are the Best AI Video Upscalers?
1. AVCLabs Video Enhancer AI
Best Overall
AVCLabs Video Enhancer AI is a video upscaling software that balances ease of use and state-of-the-art technologies. It uses neural-network machine learning to create video-enhancing filters that turn low-resolution video footage into high-quality videos.
Besides upscaling, the software provides denoising and colorizing features to improve the output video quality.
How AVC Lab Works:
Upscaling a video is pretty easy and straightforward.
- First, download and launch the platform. The settings screen will appear; you can just close it.
- Drag or browse for the video file you want to upscale. Once selected, the software brings you to the pre-processing dashboard.
- Trim the video, choose different enhancements, select an AI model, or change other video configurations (it will let you select the path, video size, and other necessary settings right there).
- Hit “Start Processing” and wait for the software to produce the upscaled AI video.
Here’s the platform overview:
AVCLab Video Enhancer AI walkthrough
AVCLab Put To The Test
I tested AVCLabs Video Enhancer AI by remastering a 15-second, 360P stock video to 1080P with the Standard AI model. AVCLabs automatically enable hardware acceleration to boost its processing power, but I didn’t experience lags on my laptop.
Original video vs. Standard AI Upscaling Filter
I was impressed with the speed, but the upscaled video leaves much to be desired, so I repeated the process with the Ultra – Multiframe AI model.
Original video vs. Ultra MultiFrame
AVCLabs AI Video Upscaler Pros and Cons:
Pricing
AVCLabs Video Enhancer AI starts at $39.95/month with a better value 1-year plan at $119.95/year.
Verdict
AVCLabs’ AI video upscaling software allows non-professionals to increase video resolution easily while preserving quality. It’s an affordable long-term solution for repurposing old videos for larger screens.
2. Topaz Video Enhancer AI
Great for Professionals
Topaz Lab’s video upscaling software is the company’s latest AI-powered product for the professional video production community. And artificial intelligence is at the forefront of their tech.
Topaz spent five years training its AI model with high-quality video clips instead of footage. This enables the software to enhance old and low-quality TV videos into realistic high-resolution versions.
How Topaz Works:
- Upload the video and then choose from one of its default presets or set the desired output resolution.
- Topaz provides a broad range of configurations, filters, and editing options in its well-organized dashboard that you can adjust.
- Customize the resolution by height, weight, or scale. It also allows you to change the frame rate of the output video.
- Before processing the video, you can preview a fraction of the AI video with a side-by-side comparison screen.
- Once you’re satisfied with the settings, click Export, and the software starts upscaling the video to the desired resolution.
It takes several minutes, depending on the source video’s duration, for the software to produce the remastered AI video. But here’s the overview of the platform:
Topaz Video Enhancer AI Walkthrough
Topaz To The Test
With high expectations, I converted a 360P video to a full HD version. I used the same video to test different tools for an objective comparison and enabled only its AI upscaler.
Topaz 360P vs. Remastered 1080P
Topaz Video Enhancer AI Pros and Cons:
Pricing
You pay $249 for a lifetime license.
Verdict
Topaz Video Enhancer AI is one of the best video upscaling tools any professional could ask for. It offers speed, robust upscaling AI, and high-quality remastered video. But you’ll need a powerful workstation to run the software at its maximum limits.
3. Aimages
Cloud Video Upscaler
Aimages is a cloud-based software with video upscaling capabilities. Instead of investing in expensive computers, users use AImage’s GPU-powered cloud servers to improve and upscale video footage.
This allows YouTubers, filmmakers, and casual users to increase video resolution from their browsers on the go. It also provides an option to enhance hundreds of videos via mailed encrypted hard disks.
How AImages Works
- Upload the original file to Aimages
- Select the appropriate AI upscaler model. Aimages allows users to choose from 200% and 400% upscaling. The 200% upscaler filter is suitable for videos with 720P resolution and above, while the latter enhances lower-resolution videos.
- Process the video, which typically takes about three minutes.
Aimages walkthrough
AImages To The Test
I had a pleasant result with Aimages when attempting the same test with a 360P, 15 seconds video.
AiImages 360p vs. remastered 1080P AI video
Why Filmmakers, YouTubers, and Marketers are Turning to Aimages:
Pricing
Aimages’ subscription starts at €11/month. You can buy credits for €1 each.
Verdict
This is a powerful cloud AI video enhancement software that delivers impressive processing speed. Its remote availability and affordable pricing attract Youtubers, broadcasters, marketers, and casual users.
4. HitPaw Video Enhancer
Anime Video Upscaler
HitPaw video enhancer is an AI-trained software for upscaling low-resolution videos. Built with anime fans in mind, the software offers an AI animation model that allows users to repair and enhance old videos.
It also allows batch processing, enabling anime studios to rework their videos in large volumes.
How HitPaw Works:
HitPaw runs on Windows or Mac computers. It has a straightforward workflow where users upload their video files and select the AI model. While HitPaw focuses on anime videos, it also provides AI filters for human faces, colorizing, and generic upscaling.
HitPaw Video Enhancer walkthrough
HitPaw To The Test
Using our same use case, you can see how it performed. Unfortunately, I didn’t have an anime piece to test.
HitPaw side-by-side preview
HitPaw Pros and Cons:
Pricing
HitPaw costs $85.99 but is available at a discounted price.
Verdict
HitPaw is the go-to AI video enhancer if you’re hoping to salvage an archive of classic anime videos.
5. Pixop
Best for Remote Batch Processing
Pixop is a web app that allows video professionals and broadcasters to remaster low-resolution videos on the cloud. It uses AI upscaling filters, trained with thousands of hours of high-quality footage, to enhance videos in simple steps.
Besides its affordability, Pixop provides batch processing capabilities via REST API. REST API is a software component that allows external programs to use Pixop remotely.
How Pixelop Works:
- Upload your video file on the dashboard, which Pixop runs a quick analysis. It provides a warning if the source file has questionable quality, which might affect the upscaled video.
- Choose from one of the presets or manually select a desired output resolution. Pixop also provides several enhancement filters, such as denoiser, deinterlacer, and stabilizer, to further improve the AI video.
- Pixop displays all versions of generated AI video in the same project. There, you can compare different versions easily with a side-by-side view.
Pixop walkthrough.
Here’s Why Pixop is a Game-Changing AI Upscale Video Software:
Pricing
Pixop charges a fee based on the processes, storage, and downloads that users initiate. And it’s very affordable. For example, upscaling a 15-second with 360P video to 1080P software will cost $0.02.
Verdict
Pixop is a fast, affordable, and robust AI upscaler that meets enterprises’ batch processing demands.
What is an AI Video Upscaler?
An AI video upscaler is software that resizes a low-resolution video to a high-resolution video without affecting its quality. It uses artificial intelligence technologies such as machine learning and neural networks to improve video quality when upscaling videos.
Depending on the software, they can offer many different options such as cloud vs. software based, AI configuration settings, scaling setting, video editing features, and more.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. How Do You Upscale From 480p to 4K?
If you’re using Topaz AI Video Enhancer AI, set the output resolution to 4K and export the video.
However, not all AI video upscaling software allows you to do so in a single pass. For example, Aimages first upscales the 480P video to 1920P with the 400% filter. Then, set the output resolution to 2160 and scale it upward with the 200% filter. This produces a 4K AI video.
2. How Good is Topaz Video Enhance AI?
Topaz is one of the best AI video upscalers I’ve tested, and it turns low-res videos into sharpened high-resolution videos in significantly less time. You can enhance the source video with Topaz’s advanced filters and preview it before starting the AI process.
3. How Long Does It Take To AI Upscale a Video?
It depends on the AI upscaler software you use. Topaz took less than ten minutes to upscale a 360P 15 seconds video to full HD but consumes high computing resources.
Online AI upscaling software like Aimages uses the combined processing power of cloud servers to shorten video upscaling time.
4. Is DVDFab Video Enhancer AI any good?
I tested the DVDFab video enhancer but found it failed to live up to my expectations. It took substantially longer to upscale video to higher resolutions. Moreover, the AI upscaled videos don’t demonstrate substantial improvements from the source low-quality videos.