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Poor resolution for DNG files


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Hi,

I have a problem with the resolution of dng files. In Affinity Photo imported dng files (40 MB) are poor in image quality compared to jpg files (9 MB). The photos are made with a DJI Mavic Pro and are available as dng and jpg files. The drone has a Hasselblad camera installed.

My guess is that the wrong codec is installed on my PC (Windows 10 Pro, 64 Bit). In any case an online conversion (online-umwandeln.de, dng => png) delivers a good quality. A test with Adobe Lightroom also did not deliver acceptable quality. What could be the cause? How can I uninstall the dng codec in Win 10?

 

 

Vergleich.jpg

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@Brolf - The DNG is the raw file from which the JPEG was created, so the quality of the DNG cannot be less than the corresponding JPEG.  To "see" the raw data in the DNG file, it has to be rendered, and that rendering will depend upon the specific application in which you are viewing the DNG result and the settings that you apply in that application.  If the JPEG has been captured and saved at the time of image acquisition along with the DNG file (that is, a simultaneous DNG+JPEG capture in the camera), the JPEG has been created from the raw data by the internal processing of the camera, and likely has sharpening and other enhancements applied to it by the camera.  The raw data contained in the corresponding DNG file requires you to process the raw data to your liking, including adding sharpening, tonal adjustment, etc.  The default processing in your raw converter is just a starting point, and may only apply very basic adjustments to give you a general rendering of the raw file -  it is up to you to make it look the way you want it to look.  If you prefer the in-camera JPEG, then it may be that you do not need to shoot DNG+JPEG, but you can just shoot JPEG and work with those files.

Post a link to the DNG and JPEG file combination here for download and I can provide you a comparison of the DNG renderings from several raw converters, with settings configured to match the JPEG.

Kirk

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Hi Kirk,

Thank you for the fast answer. For different reasons I prefer the raw files and don't need the jpg from the drone. As I understand it, a codec for the dng files is installed on my PC, which does not work well. But I have no idea how to replace it. 

I appreciate that you want to look at the files:

http://gofile.me/6HW2k/ZyfB93mnG
http://gofile.me/6HW2k/8EB2FJ1ri

Rolf

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13 hours ago, Brolf said:

As I understand it, a codec for the dng files is installed on my PC, which does not work well. But I have no idea how to replace it. 

Have a look at 'File Viewer Plus", it is a respectable and very efficient programme that can open literally hundreds of file extensions that even windows can not read. There is the free version and there is a paid version which allow you to convert also. You also get to see every bit of exif data about an image - a very detailed accoint about the image properties.  Might this help?,

As for your images above, you have obviously zoomed in to 100%, unless I am mistaken then I see a jpeg that has been sharpened and had contrats adjustments applied, and the DNG is just Raw, which is what I would expect.  A digital negative is akin to the negative in a film camera before you develop it   it has no processing applied to it, no, profile attached to it, it is literally that - A negative, a raw un-processed piece of meat that needs to be cooked to taste.  Your JPEG is a packaged hamburger ready to eat.😁

Microsoft - Like entering your home and opening the stainless steel kitchen door, with a Popup: 'Do you really want to open this door'? Then looking for the dishwasher and finding it stored in the living room where you have to download a water supply from the app store, then you have to buy microsoft compliant soap, remove the carpet only to be told that it is glued to the floor.. Don't forget to make multiple copies of your front door key and post them to all who demand access to all the doors inside your home including the windows and outside shed.

Apple - Like entering your home and opening the oak framed Kitchen door and finding the dishwasher right in front you ready to be switched on, soap supplied, and water that comes through a water softener.  Ah the front door key is yours and it only needs to open the front door.

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I have just downloaded these two images and developed the DNG file in Photo 1.8.5 with minimal processing. The developed image is almost identical to the JPG file except that the jpg seems slightly smaller in scale than the developed DNG (that is the image pixel size is the same, but the content is scaled smaller in the JPG file so that more fits in). There is no sign of any lack of image quality in the developed DNG file.

John

Windows 10, Affinity Photo 1.10.5 Designer 1.10.5 and Publisher 1.10.5 (mainly Photo), now ex-Adobe CC

CPU: AMD A6-3670. RAM: 16 GB DDR3 @ 666MHz, Graphics: 2047MB NVIDIA GeForce GT 630

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Hi Chris,

Thanks for the reference to File Viewer Plus. Unfortunately the dng cannot be opened with the free version. All programs tried so far (Affinity Photo, DxO, Excire Foto, XnVieMP, ..) display all *.dng in unsatisfactory quality.

The attached file is a detail of the online-converted *.dng (dng => png) and zoomed to 500%. This image is much better than the dng on my PC.

When I open the dng with Affinity the quality is the same for the un-processed "piece of meat" as for the cooked one. Am I possibly subject to a problem of understanding? Normally I work with raw-files (*.nef) from my Nikon D850 and I am happy with the quality.

Rolf

DJI_0121_detail.png

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1 hour ago, Brolf said:

Unfortunately the dng cannot be opened with the free version

Well I never noticed that, I have the free version and open all types that I need, have no need to open DNG in file viewer but yep, checked and you are right, only in the paid version, which is fair I suppose.

 

 

What John  John Rostron  said above is a good sign that this is definitely not affinity, but rather a perception under different viewing conditions, the only absolute proof of Truth, f I may call it that, is to do an aesthetically pleasing global processing of your dng file, then a target edit in Photo, and print it out.  Do not compare anything to anything, and do not compare screen to screen, this is all truly subjective and can never give an accurate portrayal of what actually exists in the image nor how it will look to a viewer who sees it in print.  My camera images on the camera screen are always different  when I take them into Bridge (I never bother looking at my preview images, waste of time, I alwys focus on where the Histogram begins nd ends, then at 200 or 300 percent comparing the bridge raw developed image with what I now see in photoshop often needs a littel more global adjustment than whhat I did in Bridge, they are often subtely different.   I have once or twice seen my photoshopped end product on other screens and YUK is the only word I can think of.  But my print is the ultimate judge.

Microsoft - Like entering your home and opening the stainless steel kitchen door, with a Popup: 'Do you really want to open this door'? Then looking for the dishwasher and finding it stored in the living room where you have to download a water supply from the app store, then you have to buy microsoft compliant soap, remove the carpet only to be told that it is glued to the floor.. Don't forget to make multiple copies of your front door key and post them to all who demand access to all the doors inside your home including the windows and outside shed.

Apple - Like entering your home and opening the oak framed Kitchen door and finding the dishwasher right in front you ready to be switched on, soap supplied, and water that comes through a water softener.  Ah the front door key is yours and it only needs to open the front door.

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Hi Chris,

Concerning the pictures from my DSLR I proceed in the same way, but I have *.raw files there. But this practice does not work with the *.dng files supplied by the drone, because on my PC the resolution of these files is not better than with the *.jpg. Hence my suspicion that it is the dng-codec installed on the system. 

Thanks 

Rolf

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