Adobe Lightroom February update adds AI Enhance Details feature, HDR and HDR Panos

Adobe has updated Lightroom CC, Lightroom Classic CC, and Adobe Camera Raw with a new AI-powered feature called Enhance Details. The feature is made possible by Sensei, Adobe's artificial intelligence and machine learning platform, and it works on nearly any raw image file to improve fine detail and color rendering, as well as resolving issues that some users with Fujifilm X-Trans cameras have reported.

The new Enhance Details feature utilizes a convolutional neural network (CNN) that was 'extensively trained,' according to Adobe, to deal with issues like zippering and false colors while improving the overall quality of fine details. The feature 'works well' on X-Trans and Bayer raw mosaic files, which can have their resolutions increased by up to 30%. Adobe digs into the technical details here.

An example panorama stitched together using the updated Lightroom CC application. Provided by Adobe.

In addition to the Enhance Details feature, Adobe has updated Lightroom CC for Windows and Mac with new HDR, Pano, and HDR Pano merge tools, histogram clipping indicators, and a Target Adjustment tool. The HDR and Pano features support both raw and non-raw images, though the company points out that merged raw files retail the adjustment benefits inherent to the file type.

A screenshot of HDR exposures ready to be stitched together into a panorama. Provided by Adobe.

The HDR and HDR Pano tools are best used with a camera's auto exposure bracketing mode, which captures images with varying exposure. Lightroom automatically merges the images for HDR and, in the case of panoramas, automatically adjusts alignment and corrects distortion. These features are joined by the Target Adjust Tool for precisely controlling an image's tonality and color, as well as the histogram clipping indicators.

As far as mobile is concerned, the update enables users to create ad-hoc photo shares on Lightroom CC for iOS. Finally, Lightroom Classic users received improved Nikon camera tethering stability and performance. The updates are available now.

from Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com) http://bit.ly/2SsCFv6