C1 Noise compared to LR4 Noise

[SpiritShooter]

Has anyone noticed a checkerboard type noise in C1.

I am using v6.4.2 and really never noticed it before. When processing the same file in LR4, with no noise filtering, the image looks much smoother.

[Keith Reeder]

Has anyone noticed a checkerboard type noise in C1.

Yep,  it's old news for some of us.

I've railed against this aspect of Cap One's demosaicing at length on the Phase One forum, and I've commented on it here too: http://www.luminous-landscape.com/forum/index.php?topic=66110.msg526125#msg526125

The article I refer to in that post is here: http://www.captureintegration.com/2010/12/03/noise-reduction-in-c1-6/ - click on the "Before and after Single Pixel Noise Reduction" image and you'll see a "perfect" (albeit exaggerated) example of the artifact.

This is why - although I still think of Capture One as my "default" Raw converter - I don't use it on high(er) ISO files, or files that are likely to need a lot of adjustment "heavy lifting"; and I don't capture sharpen on conversion either, because doing so really exaggerates the chequerboarding.

[SpiritShooter]

Thanks for the information.
Really is a bummer as C1 does so many things well.

I recently had a shoot on a coffee plantation in Costa Rica. A few of the interior images with very subtle natural lighting shows this artifacting fairly significantly. This is why I was asking.

Wound up reprocessing in LR4 and the files looked much smoother.

Thanks

[EricWHiss]

When I see this, I adjust the threshold slider and the radius on the sharpening upwards. 

[Keith Reeder]

When I see this, I adjust the threshold slider and the radius on the sharpening upwards. 

Yeah, that'll help, but I don't sharpen in Cap One at all - and it's still there.

[SpiritShooter]

Adjusting the radius and threshold sliders works quite well in fixing the artifacts, but like Keith, I normally don't sharpen in C1.
Thanks for your suggestion and help. Perhaps with problematic images, I will just use the C1 radius and threshold sliders.

[robgo2]

Once upon a time, I disagreed with Keith on this point, but I have since come over to his side.  Capture One has difficulty with very noisy images, although it handles low to moderate levels of noise quite handily.  Even so, the checkerboard pattern may not be visible in ordinary size prints or on the web.  In any event, I now use RPP for all images worthy of conversion to TIFFs.  It has no noise reduction feature, so I perform that task as needed with Topaz Denoise in Photoshop.  TDN is the best NR software that I have tried. 

To summarize, with high ISO images, it may be best to use a raw convertor other than Capture One, but that decision depends on the ultimate output format and size.

Rob

[Keith Reeder]

Even so, the checkerboard pattern may not be visible in ordinary size prints or on the web.

I still beg to differ with you there, Rob - I can see it when I've cropped into an image (and not necessarily by very much), at larger web sizes.

[robgo2]

I still beg to differ with you there, Rob - I can see it when I've cropped into an image (and not necessarily by very much), at larger web sizes.

The operative word in my last post is "may". Sometimes the pattern will be visible, while other times, it will not.  To be honest, since I started using RPP for my keepers, this issue does not concern me at all, but I recognize that it is still important for most C1 users.  We shall see if Phase One fixes things in Capture One 7, which should be forthcoming before the end of the year.

Rob