DxO Optics Pro v5 Software

DxO Labs have announced the upcoming availability of DxO Optics Pro v5, their automatic image quality enhancement software for Digital SLR camera users. DxO Optics Pro v5 sets a new standard for image quality with its new RAW conversion engine. This new version features a breakthrough in demosaicing technology via a completely new demosaicing algorithm which promises to produce images with much more detail and fewer artifacts. “DxO Labs’ approach to demosaicing promises to turn a number of classical solutions on their head: instead of only considering pixels with respect to their direct neighbors, DxO’s new RAW Engine uses a ‘non local’ approach looking much further than is usual from each pixel in the image in order to reconstruct detail. This approach, according to DxO, significantly reduces demosaicing artifacts and performs noise removal directly on the RAW data for best lowlight performance.

Noise reduction is performed upfront, before noise has a chance to be amplified by the RAW conversion process. Combined with other proprietary techniques, the new RAW Engine promises to produce both the most detailed and most natural looking images yet. According to DxO Labs, the new RAW conversion engine has been fine-tuned and optimized with the rest of the software’s automated image enhancement features (optical corrections, colour rendering, exposure optimization, highlight recovery, etc.) to produce best-in class results.

DxO Optics Pro v5 now incorporates a new tool to remove dust and blemishes from any digital image. Once dust and blemishes have been marked by the user, DxO Optics Pro v5 can automatically process any number of images with this particular dust/blemish template.

DxO Optics Pro v5 features a revamped User Interface which promises to improve workflow and ease of use. The tools are organized into four main sections that match the photographer’s approach: Light, Colour, Geometry, Details.

Users of DxO Optics Pro v5 can also customize their workspace to their particular way of working or choose to keep the tool organization of the previous version. DxO Optics Pro’s powerful project and preset functions have also been overhauled for increased ease of use and functionality.

Increased speed and camera support, benefiting from an entire rewrite using Microsoft’s .NET and Apple’s ObjC-Cocoa technologies, DxO Optics Pro v5 will be up to four times faster than version 4.0. DxO Optics Pro v5 for Windows should be available at the end of October 2007, with the Macintosh version available approximately one month later.

DxO Optics Pro v5 will be available in Standard and Elite versions at pricing unchanged from version 4.5: DxO Optics Pro v5 Standard: $169 DxO Optics Pro v5 Elite: $299

Visit DxO Labs online at http://www.dxo.com/