Today’s Question: I’m wondering if I should try to use the AI-powered Denoise tool on all my images (including low ISO and well-lit scenes) versus using Manual Noise Reduction? Or are there times when using the manual method could be better or at least get the same noise-reduction results as using AI to reduce noise?
Tim’s Quick Answer: While I generally consider it safe to use the AI-based Denoise feature on most images, it is important to be sure the strength setting is kept low enough to avoid excessive smoothing in the image.
More Detail: In my experience the AI-powered Denoise feature in Camera Raw and Lightroom can provide excellent results for reducing the appearance of noise for many images. However, it does include a risk of loss of perceived sharpness and detail for some images when the strength setting is set too high.
Interestingly, for images that exhibit very little noise the results of Denoise are often very good, with a reduction in noise but without a loss of perceived sharpness most of the time. However, if the strength is set too high the smoothing of the image can cause a degradation in perceived sharpness. This can be a particular problem for images with a high degree of fine detail, for example.
The greatest risk for excessive smoothing tends to come with images that exhibit considerable noise. For example, with night sky photos I’ve often seen that strong Denoise settings result in inadequate removal of relatively large areas of noise artifacts such as color tints, and a sometimes extreme loss of detail in the image.
Therefore, I recommend carefully evaluating the image while zoomed in to make sure Denoise is not causing any problems with excessive smoothing. With many images, as long as the strength setting isn’t too high, the results with Denoise can be excellent. For images where Denoise causes more problems than it solves, the manual noise reduction feature can be used instead.
