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DxO Optics Pro 6 product packaging. Rendering provided by DxO Labs. DxO Optics Pro 6.5 announced
By
(Wednesday, October 20, 2010 - 23:56 EDT)

DxO Labs will soon ship an update to its flagship photo processing application, DxO Optics Pro, according to an announcement made by the company today.

DxO Optics Pro v6.5 will be available from early November 2010, and includes a variety of significant changes. Perhaps most importantly, Optics Pro 6.5 sports an improved raw conversion engine, which is said to offer lower levels of both low-frequency chrominance and luminance noise levels at ISO sensitivities across the board.

There's also a new processing mode dubbed "Single Shot HDR", which aims to provide the look of a high-dynamic range image courtesy of local tone mapping on a single image. This isn't to be confused with true HDR imaging, achieved by combining multiple photos with varied exposure to capture a dynamic range greater than the capabilities of the image sensor itself. DxO is also offering that ability for Optics Pro users, as noted in a separate press release, but a separately available plugin will be required for true HDR imaging. The DxO HDR plugin will ship from November,with pricing as yet unannounced, and will require Optics Pro 6.5. While not a replacement for this functionality, the built-in Single Shot HDR function will doubtless prove interesting to photographers looking for the punchy, dramatic HDR look that's proven popular of late.

DxO Labs has also improved workflow in Optics Pro 6.5, especially for users of Photoshop Lightroom 3. The application can now be accessed from LR3 as an external editor, and can both read Lightroom catalogs, and write processed images back to catalogs automatically. Photographers using OpenCL-compatible graphics cards are promised an approximate 25% increase in user interface responsiveness and batch processing speed. There's also new local help, a large window in which images can be previewed before they're added to a project, and a variety of unspecified minor improvements and bug fixes.

Support for several new camera bodies has been added in both Optics Pro 6.5 Standard and Elite editions. These include the Canon EOS 60D, PowerShot S95 and PowerShot G12, Pentax K-x, and Sony Alpha DSLR-A290. We understand that support will soon follow for the Nikon D3100 and D7000, as well as the Sony Alpha DSLR-A390. The new release will also include around 150 new lens modules, compatible with a variety of camera bodies, bringing the total number of modules to approximately 2,500. The company plans to double this to some 5,000 modules by the end of 2011, by increasing its module development pace to some 600 per quarter.

DxO Optics Pro is available for Windows and Mac OS systems, priced at $169 for the Standard edition, or $299 for the Elite edition. For more details and to download a trial version, visit the DxO Labs website. Further details can also be found in the press release below.

Uncorrected raw image conversion. Source image shot at ISO 25,600 with Canon EOS 5D Mark II by Mateja Smigoc. Click for a bigger picture!

Raw image conversion using DxO Optics Pro 6.5's noise removal function in auto mode. Source image shot at ISO 25,600 with Canon EOS 5D Mark II by Mateja Smigoc. Click for a bigger picture!


Uncorrected raw image conversion (top), compared to a conversion using DxO Optics Pro 6.5's noise removal function in auto mode (bottom).
Source image shot at ISO 25,600 with Canon EOS 5D Mark II by Mateja Smigoc.
Photos provided by DxO Labs.
Full-resolution versions
(saved as sRGB Maximum-quality JPEG in Adobe Photoshop CS5)
Uncorrected raw conversion
(20.5MB)
DxO Optics Pro raw conversion with auto noise removal
(10.9MB)
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 raw conversion with auto noise removal
(13.3MB)

Original Source Press Release:

DxO Optics Pro 6.5 introduces exclusive Single Shot HDR technology for optimized rendering of contrasted scenes

Other new features include improved RAW conversion, Lightroom 3 support, speed enhancement, and increased cameras and lenses support

October 20, 2010 – DxO Labs today announced that the latest version of its award-winning image enhancement software for demanding photographers, DxO Optics Pro v6.5, will be released in early November. Along with providing photographers with high dynamic range (HDR) capability from a single RAW image, version 6.5 improves accessibility and productivity.

Single Shot HDR technology
While multi-shot HDR is becoming increasingly popular, to render both highlight and shadow details in scenes with extreme contrast, DxO Optics Pro 6.5 Single Shot HDR technology brings the power of HDR rendering to photographers working with a single RAW image.

"We found that, in a very large number of situations, Single Shot HDR technology reveals the full dynamic range of contrasted scenes without the need of cumbersome bracketing." explains Cyrille de La Chesnais, Director Sales & Marketing for DxO Labs' Photography business. "It widens picture taking opportunities in harsh lighting conditions such as backlight, opens up creative possibilities until now only available under dedicated shooting conditions and gives legacy pictures a potential new life."

Single Shot HDR technology is made possible by combining DxO Optics Pro's enhanced automatic local exposure correction with unsurpassed shadow noise removal, ensuring high-quality results from a single shot RAW image, even when aggressive tone mapping is required to bring out the details in every part of the image.

Improved RAW conversion engine for 100% automatic processing and unrivaled image quality
Considered by many professional photographers as the benchmark of RAW conversion quality and noise removal, this newest version of DxO Optics Pro further reduces low frequency color and luminance noise at any ISO ranging from 100 to 100,000, delivering more natural images.

DxO Labs' unique knowledge of sensor calibration and noise characterization allows DxO Optics Pro to automatically adapt noise removal for each image, delivering the ultimate image quality with no laborious manual tuning. DxO Optics Pro automatically applies optimal noise removal, along with optimal lighting and optics corrections appropriate for any supported photographic equipment.

Uncorrected raw image conversion with a +1 EV adjustment applied, for an equivalent ISO 102,400. Source image shot with Nikon D3S at ISO 51,200 by Jean Marie Sepulchre. Click for a bigger picture!

Raw image conversion using DxO Optics Pro 6.5's noise removal function with a +1 EV adjustment applied, for an equivalent ISO 102,400. Source image shot with Nikon D3S at ISO 51,200 by Jean Marie Sepulchre. Click for a bigger picture!


Uncorrected raw image conversion (top), compared to a conversion using DxO Optics Pro 6.5's noise removal function (bottom). Both conversions have had a +1 EV adjustment applied, for an equivalent ISO 102,400.
Source image shot with Nikon D3S at ISO 51,200 by Jean Marie Sepulchre.
Photos provided by DxO Labs.
Full-resolution versions
(saved as sRGB Maximum-quality JPEG in Adobe Photoshop CS5)
+1 EV Uncorrected raw conversion
(10.2MB)
+1 EV DxO Optics Pro raw conversion with noise removal
(3.7MB)

Improved User Experience
The integration of DxO Optics Pro into the Lightroom 3 workflow now provides photographers with the best of both image processing and image management worlds.

When running DxO Optics Pro on computers equipped with OpenCL compatible graphic cards, users will enjoy up to 25% productivity increase, both in terms of user interface reactivity, and also in terms of batch processing time reduction.

Numerous improvements often based on customer feedback have been integrated in this version, such as a new large preview window for detailed inspection of images before adding them a Project.

Additional Camera Support
DxO Optics Pro has long been recognized for its unrivaled automatic optical fault correction based on DxO Optics Modules — laboratory-grade mathematical models defining optical faults, including the exclusive lens softness, of each particular camera & lens combination. More than 2,500 DxO Optics Modules have been made available in the last six years, and this number will grow at an accelerated pace of 600 per quarter in 2011, to reach a total of 5,000 by the end of that year.

Both the Standard and Elite editions of DxO Optics Pro v6.5 now include support for the following Canon, Pentax and Sony cameras:

  • Canon EOS 60D, PowerShot S95 and PowerShot G12

  • Pentax K-x

  • Sony A290

150 new DxO Optics Modules are now available to DxO Optics Pro users covering numerous camera bodies.

Availability and pricing
DxO Optics Pro v6.5 for Windows and Mac, Standard and Elite editions are scheduled for release in early November 2010 from both DxO Labs' e-store and selected resellers:

  • Standard edition: 149 € / $169 / £ 135

  • Elite edition: 299 € / $299 / £ 269.

All customers who purchased DxO Optics Pro since June 1st, 2009 are entitled to a free upgrade to version 6.5. All other users benefit from the following upgrade pricing:

  • DxO Optics Pro Standard (any version) to DxO Optics Pro 6 Standard: 69 € / $79 / £ 59

  • DxO Optics Pro Elite (any version) to DxO Optics Pro 6 Elite: 99 € / $119 / £ 89.

€ and £ prices include sales taxes and VAT.

System Requirements

  • 2 GB RAM minimum

  • 400 MB available disk space

Windows:

  • Intel Pentium 4 processor or AMD equivalent (Pentium Dual Core or higher or equivalent recommended)

  • Microsoft Windows XP 32 or 64 bits, Windows Vista 32 or 64 bits, Windows 7 32 or 64 bits

  • To process RAW images larger than 20 MPixels, a 64-bit operating system with 4 GB RAM is strongly recommended

Macintosh:

  • Intel-Mac

  • Mac OS X.5 or X.6

  • To process RAW images larger than 20 MPixels, a 64-bit operating system with 3 GB RAM is strongly recommended

About DxO Optics Pro
DxO Optics Pro is an award-winning automatic image enhancement software for enthusiastic amateur and professional photographers shooting in JPEG or RAW format. World renowned for its unique automated optical corrections (distortion, vignetting, chromatic aberrations, lens softness), and its state-of-the-art RAW conversion, it addresses the entire spectrum of image quality issues, including noise removal, exposure optimization, keystoning correction, color control and dust removal. Its fully-customizable and easy-to-use interface makes it an unrivalled productivity tool, able to process hundreds of images in just a few clicks of a mouse.

For more information, visit DxO Labs' website at www.dxo.com.

About DxO Labs
DxO Labs offers products and solutions that provide excellence in digital imaging. In addition to its DxO Optics Pro and DxO FilmPack products for Mac and Windows, aimed at serious and demanding photographers, the company also licenses patented intellectual property serving the entire digital imaging chain:

  • Embedded software and silicon architectures for real-time still and video image processing, for consumer electronics OEM/ODM (such as digital camera and camera phone vendors);

  • Image quality evaluation and measurement tools, for imaging component suppliers (camera module manufacturers, sensor vendors, and processor vendors) as well as photography journalists and imaging experts.

For more information, visit DxO Labs' website at www.dxo.com.

DxO is a registered trademark of DxO Labs. Other trademarks and trade names may be used in this document to refer to either the entities claiming the marks and names or their products. DxO Labs disclaims any proprietary interest in trademarks and trade names other than its own

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