Denoise

Remove noise from images on the GPU with median, bilateral, non-local means, FFT gate, or wavelet denoising.

What it does

Denoise softens noise and grain while trying to hold edges. Content In produces Content Out at the same size and type. Strength sets how aggressive the smoothing is: at 0 the image passes through unchanged, and raising it blends in more neighbouring pixels.

Method sets the character of the reduction: Median, Bilateral, Non-Local Means, FFT Gate, or Wavelet, each suited to a different kind of noise such as impulse speckle, general grain, or fine texture. Radius and Threshold shape the neighbourhood size and how much detail is protected from smoothing.

When to use it

ParameterTypeDefault
content_inOneOf([FieldOf(Raster)])
methodString"Bilateral"
strengthNumber0.500
radiusNumber3
thresholdNumber10
spatial_strengthField

Gotchas

Edge protection has a limit. If a subject's edges look too soft after denoising, lower Strength rather than compensating with the other settings.

Strength is the control that matters most at present. Start at 0 and ease it up until the noise settles. Pushed too far, fine texture softens along with the noise.

Worked example

  1. Add a Denoise node and wire a noisy image into Content In.

  2. Pick a Method that matches the noise. Bilateral is a solid general-purpose default.

  3. Raise Strength gradually until the noise clears without smearing detail.

  4. Feed Content Out into the next filter or composite step.

See also

Blur · Sharpen · Convolve · Rasters (images)