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DxO Labs Logo. Click to visit the DxO Labs website! DxO Optics Pro v5 released
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(Thursday, November 22, 2007 - 14:23 EST)

French software company DxO Labs has released a new version of their unique photo-enhancing tool, Optics Pro.

The announcement actually happened a couple of days ago, but we've held off briefly on sharing the news as DxO's website has been offline for much of the intervening time - perhaps as a deluge of customers attempted to try the new version. DxO Optics Pro version 5 includes a range of interesting new features, some of them previously unannounced.

As we'd previously reported, noise reduction is now performed on the raw sensor data before demosaicing, which could potentially offer better image quality. DxO Optics Pro v5 also has a new demosaicing algorithm that looks further afield than the closest adjacent pixels, taking account the structure of surounding detail when determining how to demosaic a specific pixel. The new release is also said to offer the potential for a significant speed improvement, achieved by using processing power from the high-performance graphics chipsets of modern PCs, as well as a rewrite of the Optics Pro codebase using Microsoft's .NET and Apple's ObjC-Cocoa technologies respectively on the Windows and MacOS platforms. There's also a newly revamped user interface that separates the program into four main areas - Light, Color, Geometry and Details - as well as a new dust and blemish removal tool.

Features that are newly announced include the ability for Optics Pro v5 to read from and interact with image libraries from Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, and a new "Snapshot" function with which you can create several 'virtual versions' of an image, each using different DxO Optics Pro corrections for processing.

DxO Optics Pro v5 is available immediately, retaining the same pricing as the current version - $169 for the Standard edition, or $299 for the Elite edition. Customers who purchased Optics Pro v4.5 after August 1st 2007 are entitled to a free upgrade to Optics Pro v5. Customers who purchased before August 2007 will pay a reduced rate of $95 for the Standard edition, or $125 for the Elite edition.

DxO Optics Pro v5 is currently available only on the Windows platform. Mac users can look forward to an equivalent version on their platform towards the end of the year.

Original Source Press Release:

DxO Labs Announces Immediate Availability of the New DxO Optics Pro v5 Software for Windows

DxO Optics Pro v5 features a breakthrough RAW Engine, dust/blemish removal, improved user interface, support for the Canon EOS 40D as well as expanded Adobe® Photoshop® Lightroom® compatibility, and an exciting new ‘Snapshot’ feature

Paris, France – November 20, 2007 – DxO Labs today announced the immediate availability of DxO Optics Pro v5 for Windows, the latest version of its award-winning flagship automatic image quality enhancement software application for Digital SLR camera users. DxO Optics Pro v5 can be purchased via download on the company’s e-store (www.dxo.com) as well as from several well known retailers (a full list of resellers is available at http://www.dxo.com/intl/photo/Resellers). DxO Optics Pro v5 for Macintosh is scheduled to be available towards the end the year. All purchasers of DxO Optics Pro v4.5 on or after August 1, 2007 are eligible for a free upgrade to DxO Optics Pro v5.

DxO Optics Pro v5 RAW conversion delivers a breakthrough in image qualityHeadlining the new features in DxO Optics Pro v5 is a brand new RAW conversion engine including a breakthrough demosaicing algorithm which produces images with much more detail and fewer unwanted artifacts. In a second major breakthrough, DxO Optics Pro v5 now applies its noise reduction techniques prior to demosaicing -- before noise has a chance to be amplified by the RAW conversion process and become obtrusive.

“Thanks to our new RAW converter and moving noise removal up front, before RAW conversion, images processed with DxO Optics Pro v5 are more natural looking with better detail and excellent color saturation. The results are really remarkable, and particularly on images shot at high ISOs in low light conditions,” says Luc Marin, Sales and Marketing VP of the Photography Business at DxO Labs. DxO Optics Pro v5 also includes a “click once, clean many” dust/blemish removal tool as well a completely reorganized user interface to improve workflow and ease of use.

DxO Optics Pro v5 adds even more features and support for more cameras
Previously unannounced, a handful of additional new features make DxO Optics Pro v5 even more of a time saver.

  • Compatibility between DxO Optics Pro v5 and Adobe® Photoshop® Lightroom® has been deepened. DxO Optics Pro v5 can now read from and interact with image libraries from Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, providing a more fluid workflow between these two popular applications.
  • Using the new ‘Snapshot” feature; users can create several ‘virtual versions’ of an image to which they can apply different DxO Optics Pro corrections for processing.

With DxO Optics Pro v5, the library of camera bodies and lens correction modules expands to include the recently released Canon EOS 40D and selected lenses. In the coming months, the Canon 1Ds MKIII, Nikon D300 and Nikon D3 DSLR camera bodies will also be added to the more than 600 correction modules currently available.

Pricing and availability
DxO Optics Pro v5 is available in Standard and Elite versions at pricing unchanged from the previous version :

  • DxO Optics Pro v5 Standard: $169
  • DxO Optics Pro v5 Elite: $299
    (All prices are excluding sales taxes)

All customers who purchased DxO Optics Pro v4.5 on or after August 1, 2007 are entitled to a free upgrade to version 5. For customers who purchased DxO Optics Pro before August 1, 2007, the pricing of upgrades is as follows:

  • DxO Optics Pro Standard (any version) to DxO Optics Pro v5 Standard: $95
  • DxO Optics Pro Elite (any version) to DxO Optics Pro v5 Elite: $125
    (All prices are excluding sales taxes)

DxO Optics Pro v5 for Windows is currently available. DxO Optics Pro v5 for Macintosh is scheduled to be available towards the end of the year.

Operating System Requirements
Windows:

  • Intel® Pentium® 4 processor or AMD® equivalent (Pentium® Dual Core or higher or equivalent recommended)
  • Microsoft® Windows XP Service Pack 2 or Windows VISTA™ 32 Bits

Macintosh:

  • Universal Binary (G4, G5 or Intel)
  • Mac OS X.4 or X.5 when available

120 MB of available disk space
DxO Optics Pro Standard Edition: 1 GB RAM
DxO Optics Pro Elite Edition: 2GB RAM

About DxO Labs
DxO Labs offers products and solutions ensuring excellence in digital imaging. DxO Labs develops and licenses intellectual property serving the entire digital imaging chain: licensing of optics and silicon architectures for embedded still and video image processing; image quality evaluation and measurement tools and methodologies; image quality enhancement software for consumers. The company’s key customers and partners include:

  • Consumer electronics manufacturers such as digital camera vendors and cameraphones vendors;
  • Imaging components suppliers: camera module manufacturers, sensor vendors, and processor vendors;
  • Demanding photographers, as well as photography journalists and imaging experts.

DxO Labs’ product portfolio is steadily finding a place at the heart of advanced consumer electronics and world-class industry imaging systems where “Image Science by DxO” becomes a reference for quality.

For more information or a list of distributors and resellers, visit DxO Labs online 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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