How to Upscale from 1080p to 4K with the Best AI Upscaling Software

4K is now available in digital theatres, on-demand streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney +, and most home televisions. It has two resolutions: 3840 x 2160, which is known as Ultra High Definition or UHD, and 4096 x 2160, which is formally known as 4K. Compared to 1080p and 720p, 4K is optimal for big-screen displays and provides a superior viewing experience for gamers, movie fans, and TV viewers.

With the growing popularity of 4K Ultra HD Blu-rays, 4K streaming services, and 4K TVs, demand for 4K videos are steadily increasing, owing to the stunning video quality that 4K provides. Apart from viewing 4K videos online and purchasing 4K Ultra HD Blu-rays, there is another way to get more 4K media: using AI video upscaler to improve 1080p videos to 4K.

4K vs 1080p: The Difference

1080p refers to videos with a 1920 x 1080 pixels resolution, while 4K refers to videos with a 3840 x 2160 pixels resolution. In terms of pixel resolution alone, 4K video is a significant improvement over 1080p, with four times the resolution of 1080p and more than eight million pixels compared to just two million pixels in 1080p.

When watching 1080p and 4K films on regular TV screens or your desktop/laptop displays, you may not notice much of a difference; but, as 4K TVs and monitors become more prevalent, you will see the difference when watching 1080p and 4K videos on that 4K screen. When played on 4K televisions, 4K videos convey more information than 1080p videos, making the video images look crisper, sharper, and cleaner, notably in the portrayal of hair, feathers, and skins.

Why do We Need to Upscale Videos to 4K?

You most likely already own or plan to acquire a 4K television. However, just because you have a 4K TV doesn't mean you'll be able to watch everything in 4K. If your 4K TV doesn't allow hardware 4K upscaling (which most modern 4K TVs do), you won't be able to watch non-4K or standard 1080p videos in 4K quality. And without some creative upscaling, full HD/1080p videos on a 4K monitor will merely look more prominent, not better.

As a result, if you don't want to invest in an Ultra HD Blu-ray player and buy 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray movies regularly, or if you don't want to stream 4K content from Netflix, Amazon, or any other 4K TV channel, upscaling your 1080p videos to 4K is the only way to get more 4K videos and get the most out of your 4K TV.

How to Upscale 1080p to 4K?

Upscaling 1080p to 4K can be accomplished in one of two ways: hardware or software. We'll go over this issue in-depth in this part.

Using Hardware

When shopping for 4K TVs in a physical store or online, you'll note that most of today's 4K TVs are labeled as capable of 4K upscaling. The 4K upscale feature in a 4K TV works as follows: soon after the video signal is transferred to the 4K TV, an analysis begins to determine what type and resolution the received video signal is, whether it's live TV or streaming, HD or full HD, and then noise reduction takes place. Edges, textures, and details are then evaluated and sharpened as needed. Finally, to match the native panel resolution, the signal is transformed to 4K.

Using software

Choosing a software 4K upscaling solution to get ai upscaling video over the native 4K upscaling that comes with 4K TVs is that you can always keep up with the latest AI technology, making 4K upscaling considerably easier. Machine learning-based Video Enhancement software can be significantly more intelligent: it can use previous and next frames to see what's truly there, then improve the final result.

DVDFab Enlarger AI - Best Option

Upscale DVDs, Blu-rays, and other videos to 4K with AI power

Video Enhancer AI isn't the only AI-driven 4K upscaling solution among the DVDFab family. Another is the DVDFab Enlarger AI, which, unlike the Video Enhancer AI, is a product module that comes packaged with the DVDFab 12 all-in-one suite. The Enlarger AI can upscale 480p DVDs to 1080p Blu-ray standard, 1080p Blu-rays to 4K UHD quality, and other low-res films to 4K quality when used with the DVD Ripper, Blu-ray Ripper, and Video Converter modules.

Key features in a nutshell:

• AI-enabled and capable of deep learning
• Infilled with super-resolution and neural networks
• 480p DVDs can be upscaled to the 1080p Blu-ray format
• Upscale Blu-rays from 1080p to 4K UHD
• Other low-resolution videos can be upscaled to 4K
• Color adjustments, blurring, and noise removal
• Improved saturation and brightness of video images
• Automatic upscaling and optimization

Check out the guides below to see how Enlarger AI and Blu-ray Ripper work together to upscale 1080p to 4K:

Open DVDFab 12. Select the Ripper module from the top menu bar after installation, and then load your Blu-ray source (which could be a Blu-ray disc from your optical drive or an ISO/folder from your computer HDD).

Open the profile library by selecting "choose other profile" from the Profile Selection Box, then going to the Format > Enlarger AI tab and selecting one of the four 4K AI conversion profiles available.

Select the Wrench symbol to access the Advanced Settings panel, where you may fine-tune video, audio, and subtitle settings to meet your requirements.

To access the Video Edit panel, click the Pencil symbol behind the Wrench. You may trim or crop films, alter video brightness, saturation, and contrast, add an image or text watermark to your video, and even add an external subtitle stream if needed.

Return to the main interface after completing the Advanced Settings and Video Edit panels. You may also select your desired audio track, subtitle stream, or even a specific chapter range to upscale 1080p to 4K.

Use the folder icon in the Save to section to select an output directory, then press the Start button to begin the upscaling process.

AVCLabs Video Enhancer AI

AVCLabs Video Enhancer AI is AI-based video enhancement software that can upscale video from 480p to 1080p, 1080p to 4K, and up to 8K resolutions. AVCLabs Video Enhancer AI may be taught on low-resolution videos using a neural network-based deep learning model, predicting missing coefficients and recomposing the same frames with improved quality. AVCLabs Video Enhancer AI automatically performs video restoration and quality upscaling tasks, including deblurring, super-resolution, denoising, deinterlacing, sharpening, color enhancement and correction, frame insertion, scratch removal, and more.

Topaz Video Enhancer AI

Topaz Video Enhance AI is a video improvement application developed by Topaz Labs. Machine learning is used to upscale footage in Video Enhance AI. Topaz Video Enhance AI can upscale films to 8K resolution and give genuine details and motion consistency by training on hundreds of videos and merging information from many input video frames.

With the fast-paced evolution of the television business and the ever-increasing demand for 4K programming, many consumers will join the 4K bandwagon. Although most 4K TVs can upscale to 4K, not all of them can produce outstanding 4K video quality that will delight your discerning eyes. As a result, you can either buy 4K Ultra HD Blu-rays or stream 4K movies from Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, Apple, or any other 4K content provider to get the most out of your 4K TV.

However, knowing how to upscale 1080p videos to 4K utilizing 4K upscale software like DVDFab Enlarger AI can save you money on streaming fees. The DVDFab Enlarger AI is undoubtedly the best software that you can use to upscale your 1080p videos. It doesn’t only come with the required software. Also, you get the Ripper module with various other software that can be used for image resolution upscaling without losing quality, editing videos, or even streaming. It is the complete package and gets our vote for a must-have software in this field.