DPP4 display sharpness and performance

[woodsy]

When I load a raw photo it takes a long time for the throbber in the lower right corner to stop spinning and even then the preview is not as sharp as the jpegs I export. My computer is OK spec wise apart from the fact that I use the onboard Intel video card. Will adding an Nvidia video card to my computer help with performance and sharpness of the previews?

[Waddizzle]

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@woodsy wrote:

When I load a raw photo it takes a long time for the throbber in the lower right corner to stop spinning and even then the preview is not as sharp as the jpegs I export. My computer is OK spec wise apart from the fact that I use the onboard Intel video card. Will adding an Nvidia video card to my computer help with performance and sharpness of the previews?

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It should make a dramatic difference with DPP4.  I cannot recommend a specific card, but I use a 4GB NVidia card in my gaming computer, and DPP4 runs pretty quickly.  I can load files in about 2-3 seconds.  I can batch process 6 files per minute.

[jrhoffman75]

But I don’t think the video card will affect sharpness. Are your DPP sharpness settings different than your in-camera JPEG settings.

[Waddizzle]

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@jrhoffman75 wrote:
But I don’t think the video card will affect sharpness. Are your DPP sharpness settings different than your in-camera JPEG settings.

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On some systems there is a delay in displaying an image when video RAM is shared with System RAM.  Images are initially displayed in a reduced resolution mode, which can make the image seem blurry and out of focus.  

You would usually see the ubiquitous spinning icon when this happens.  Full resolution should appear after the icon disappears, but there can be a delay for the high resolution image to actually appear.  On some systems, the total delay to display a 24 MP RAW image can approach a minute.

As I have posted many times in the past, using a video card turns DPP into a different application,  with one caveat.  You must enable the video driver and DPP to use the video card.

[woodsy]

Thanks for your replies. Yes my sharpness settings for the raws are the same as for the jpgs, things do sharpen up a bit when the throbber stops but not completely which seems a bit odd. I've order a video card with 2GB of RAM, I'll let you both know how it goes 

It's not a great video card but I hope it will improve things as it exceeds what Canon recommend "Improved the display speed by using a graphics processor (GPU) to process images for preview in 64-bit OS (32-bit OS not supported). For converting and saving, and printing, the conventional CPU processing is used. To use this function, a GPU that has 1.0GB or more of built-in video memory and that supports CUDA (Compute Capability 2.0 or later) made by NVIDIA is required. "

[jrhoffman75]

I'm not sure if this affects what you are seeing, but the sharpness scale in camera goes from 0-7 in the Picture Styles.

In DPP the scale is from 1-10; if camera is aset at 3 maybe try moving DPP to 4 or 5 and comapre that with the camera JPEG.

[woodsy]

I can see the difference between raws and jpgs even when looking at a jpg processed using DPP4. Please see the screen grabs below.

EDIT: you may have to save or open the images in a new window to see the difference.

RAW

JPG converted from the above RAW

[Waddizzle]

I am not going to see much of difference from screen shots, but i will take your word for it.  Be sure to always be cognizant of MFD, minimum focusing distances, especially at wide apertures and relatively slow shutter speeds.

What gear [and exposure settings] were you shooting with?  The STM lenses are really good.  As long your shutter speed, SS, meets, or exceeds, one  over your focal length, FL, that should help reduce soft images from camera shake.

1/SS  <=  1/FL for a full frame camera, or 1/SS <= 1/(FL*1.6) for an APS-C camera.  I use 1/SS <= 1/(FL*2) 

In you are using a 100mm lens, then you want a minimum shutter speed of 1/100 on a full frame body, and 1/160 on an APS-C body, or just go with 1/200 for any body.  Remember, this guideline is for a minimum shutter speed, so going a little faster doesn't hurt, although it will mean a full stop higher ISO on a full frame body.  On an APS-C body, this might mean 1/3 of a stop higher ISO, which is almost negligible at all but the highest settings.

[Waddizzle]

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@woodsy wrote:

Thanks for your replies. Yes my sharpness settings for the raws are the same as for the jpgs, things do sharpen up a bit when the throbber stops but not completely which seems a bit odd. I've order a video card with 2GB of RAM, I'll let you both know how it goes 

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The sharpness setting in the software is unrelated to the performance of the video display.  Also, your photos may not be as sharp as you might think.  Zooming in past 100% can make your shots look soft, too.

I hope your video card gives you the improvement you're looking for.  Mine has 4GB and a separate CPU, and DPP flies compared to when it is disabled.

[woodsy]

My video card came today but it has not helped. Image rendering times are as slow as they were before, even with the "use graphics processor for image processing" option selected it takes too long for the image to load. In fact with that option selected it is worse because any previous edits are not applied until the image has completely loaded.