Releases: Djdefrag/RealScaler
RealScaler 2026.3
🚀 What's New
🛠️ Backend updates
- Updated to Python 3.14 (+5% overall performance)
- Updated AI engine to version 1.24.4 (bugfixes and better AI performance)
🧠 Updated AI models
- AI models updated with newer tools for better efficiency
- +10% speedup for all AI models
- Performance Benchmarks (tested on RX 6600 + Ryzen 5600)
- Note: Higher-end hardware may experience even greater performance gains
🎨 UI Changes
App UI scaling
- Added the ability to zoom the interface in and out (from 50% to 175%)
- Scaling is relative to Windows UI settings and your preference is automatically saved
🖥️ Smart Backend Detection
- The app title now dynamically displays the AI engine version and backend
- DirectML detected: (
+ DirectML) GPU acceleration is active for maximum performance - No DirectML detected: (
+ CPU) GPU acceleration is disabled
Warning
In CPU mode, upscaling will be significantly slower
This may happen due to missing libraries or outdated GPU drivers
🗯️ Balloon messagebox
- Modified the app messagebox interface with a new, custom-styled balloon notification
🩹 Bugfix / Improvements
🌍 International Compatibility
- Improved stability for users worldwide, fixing potential crashes on systems with non-English regional settings (such as Asian or Cyrillic locales)
- The app now natively supports special characters, symbols, and emojis across the entire interface and background processes
- Implemented a global fail-safe system to ensure the app remains stable even when encountering unsupported system characters
🎬 Video upscaling
- Video encoding is now 10% faster
- The app now automatically switches to H.264 if the GPU does not support the chosen codec
- Increased default video bitrate to 50 Mbps for improved visual fidelity
- Video frames are now extracted at maximum quality settings
- Updatef FFMPEG to version 8.0.1, with better encoding performance
- Redesigned frame management for better stability and speed
⚙️ General
- Under-the-hood bug fixes and extensive code cleanup
- Updated all dependencies and libraries for better stability and compatibility
🛡️ VirusTotal
RealScaler 4.7
▼ BUGFIX / IMPROVEMENTS
Video Upscaling Improvements
⊡ Improved memory management and performance during video upscaling
⊡ Fixed a disk I/O bottleneck during frame saving — significant performance boost
⊡ Optimized AI multithreading for high thread counts, improving stability and speed
⊡ Fixed issues causing upscaling failures under high multithreading settings
⊡ Performance improved by ≈25% on test PC [AMD RX6600 + Ryzen 5600 + 8 threads]
⊡ On more powerful setups, performance gains may reach up to ≈100%
⊡ Faster and more lightweight saving of upscaled frames
⊡ Updated FFmpeg to version 7.1.1
Frame Extraction System
⊡ Introduced a new frame extraction engine based on FFmpeg
⊡ Up to 10× faster thanks to full CPU utilization
⊡ Slight improvement in extracted frame quality
⊡ Fixed over-extraction issues, particularly with Variable Frame Rate (VFR) videos
I/O Efficiency
⊡ Disabled Windows Indexer for folders containing video frames
⊡ Significantly reduces unnecessary CPU usage during frame extraction and saving
AI Engine & Models
⊡ AI engine updated to version 1.23.0 (from 1.17 → 1.22 → 1.23)
⊡ Updated AI models using the latest tools
⊡ Improved upscale accuracy, performance, and VRAM usage
⊡ Better support for new GPUs (Nvidia 4000/5000, AMD 7000/9000, Intel B500/B700)
General Improvements
⊡ Fixed a bug preventing correct memory release when stopping upscaling
⊡ Various bug fixes, code cleanup, and optimizations
⊡ Updated dependencies for improved stability and compatibility
▼ VirusTotal
⊡ https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/28631b62376a6abed7b36ae3e9c421c3f3886a26498a15871449c9ef219de5bd
RealScaler 4.1
▼ NEW
Completely redesigned GUI
⊡ The app now presents file information more clearly
⊡ Many widgets have been repositioned and grouped by functionalities
⊡ All info widgets have been improved, now displaying additional details for each setting
⊡ Redesigned the entire graphical user interface to deliver a modern, intuitive experience
Output resolution widget
⊡ Added a widget for selecting the output resolution percentage
⊡ Allows further upscaling or downscaling after AI processing
Video extension widget
⊡ Introduced a widget for choosing the output video extension
⊡ Supported formats: .mp4 | .mkv | .avi | .mov
Video codec widget
⊡ Added a widget for selecting the codec for upscaled videos
⊡ These codecs ensure compatibility with all major GPU families
⊡ Using hardware-accelerated codecs significantly improves encoding speed
⊡ Supported codecs:
-- CPU : x264 | x265
-- NVIDIA : h264_nvenc | hevc_nvenc
-- AMD : h264_amf | hevc_amf
-- Intel : h264_qsv | hevc_qsv
AI multithreading optimization
⊡ Completely reworked AI multithreading functionality
⊡ Now supports up to 8 threads for better performance and stability
⊡ Significantly faster and more reliable than before
▼ REMOVED
CPU selection widget
⊡ The CPU selection widget has been removed
⊡ The app now automatically utilizes the optimal number of CPU cores
▼ BUGFIX / IMPROVEMENTS
AI models update
⊡ Updated AI models using the latest tools
⊡ Improved GPU compatibility and upscaling performance
General improvements
⊡ Bug fixes, code cleaning, and overall performance improvements
⊡ Updated dependencies to enhance stability and compatibility
RealScaler 3.12
▼ NEW
Keep frames widget
⊡ Added new widget to choose whether to save upscaled video frames
⊡ Selecting “Enabled”, upscaled frames will not be deleted
⊡ This allows you to re-encode upscaled video with different extension without upscaling again
AI models update
⊡ Updated AI models using updated tools
⊡ Improved upscale quality
⊡ Improved GPU compatibility and upscaling performance
GPU Auto selection
⊡ Added new "Auto" option in GPU Widget
⊡ Selecting “Auto,” the app automatically choose the most powerful GPU in the PC
⊡ This solves a problem with GPU processing on notebooks with 2 GPUs
▼ BUGFIX / IMPROVEMENTS
FFMPEG audio passthrough
⊡ This feature allows audio to be processed without any alterations (lossless quality)
⊡ Supports multiple audio streams (when a video contains multiple audio tracks)
⊡ This function fix an issue where audio could not be applied to upscaled videos
Video upscale improvements
⊡ Improved video upscale stability and memory usage
⊡ Updated FFMPEG to version 7.1 (video encoding bugfix and performance improvements)
⊡ Now the app automatically removes the temp folder when the video upscale is finished
Video encoding improvements
⊡ Updated MoviePy to version 2.0
⊡ A long list of bugfixes and optimizations for video encoding
General improvements
⊡ Bug fixes, code cleaning, performance improvements
⊡ Updated dependencies
▼ NOTE
Nvidia GPUs optimizations
⊡ Is essential to enable Windows Hardware Accelerated GPU scheduling option
⊡ This option can dramatically improve upscale performance
⊡ Enable it in Windows 10 / Windows 11 settings > Graphic Settings menu
▼ VirusTotal
⊡ https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file-analysis/M2NmZDUwODMwNTU5NjEwOGQ0ZDhjZTk3MTdmMzk1OGU6MTczMjU1MDM0Mg==
RealScaler 3.9
▼ NEW
Video upscale STOP&RESUME
⊡ Now is possible to stop and resume the video upscale process at any time
⊡ When restarting (with same settings) the app will checks files already upscaled and resumes from the interrupted point
⊡ NOTE - If video temporary files are deleted, upscaling will start over again
User settings save
⊡ The app will now remember all the options of the user (AI model, GPU, GPU VRAM etc.)
⊡ NOTE - In case of problems, delete the file RealScaler_UserPreference.json in Documents folder
AI engine improvements
⊡ Removed "Full precision" and optimized AI models only for "Half precision"
⊡ This resulted in lower VRAM memory usage and better performance
AI multi-threading improvements
⊡ Optimized upscaling speed when using AI multi-threading
⊡ Is now possible to select up to 6 threads (6 video frames simultaneous)
Build system
⊡ Changed build system tools (now using Pyinstaller)
⊡ Now using one-file mode (the build tool create only a single portable exe, instead of a folder)
Antivirus problem fix
⊡ After contacting Microsoft, Avast and AVG
⊡ RealScaler will finally no longer be recognized as Malware by these antivirus
▼ GUI
File widget
⊡ The widget to upload files is now much faster
⊡ In particular when uploading many files and files with high resolution
⊡ Also improved the display of file informations
▼ BUGFIX / IMPROVEMENTS
AI upscale improvements
⊡ Improved upscaled image/video quality and "temporal stability"
⊡ Better support for images with transparent background
⊡ Fixed a problem with upscaling black and white images
⊡ Improved memory usage and performance
AI multithreading improvements
⊡ Multithreaded video upscale is now more stable
⊡ Fixed a problem that could lead to losing some upscaled frames
Video upscale improvements
⊡ Improved audio quality for upscaled videos
⊡ Updated FFMPEG to version 7.0.2 (bugfix and performance improvements)
General improvements
⊡ The app is now lighter (-100MB)
⊡ Bug fixes, code cleaning, performance improvements
⊡ Updated dependencies
▼ VirusTotal
⊡ https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/a2cdb4a67315d1ab3ec7debd0297a0603c926c86440264629d05d9141f37b32f?nocache=1
RealScaler 3.5
▼ NEW
AI multithreading
⊡ Is now possible to upscale multiple video frames simultaneously
⊡ This option can improve video upscaling performance, especially with powerful GPUs
⊡ Can select up to 4 threads (4 frame simultaneously)
⊡ As the number of threads increases, the use of CPU, GPU and RAM memory also increases
Output path
⊡ Is now possible to select upscaled files path
⊡ Default value is "Same path as input file"
⊡ For video upscaling, also temporary video frames files will be saved in the selected path
Multiple GPUs support
⊡ It's now possible to select up to 4 GPUs for AI acceleration
⊡ Based on the GPU index (visible in the Windows Task Manager)
▼ GUI
Load file widget
⊡ New design for loaded files
⊡ Bigger file icons and in line with the original file aspect-ratio
⊡ Multiline file informations
New widgets
⊡ Added "Output path" widget
⊡ Added "AI multithreading" widget
Some changes
⊡ Added more information in several widgets
▼ BUGFIX / IMPROVEMENTS
Video upscale improvements
⊡ Updated FFMPEG version to 7.0 (prevalently bugfixes and performance improvements)
⊡ The app will report the % progress when extracting video frames
Video encoding improvements
⊡ FFMPEG now uses the -ultrafast preset for video encoding
⊡ Improving the encoding speed by 30/40 %.
General improvements
⊡ Bug fixes, code cleaning, performance improvements
⊡ Updated dependencies
▼ VirusTotal
⊡ https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/b6e87109b24ce8a1b9a0e3f749c37db741f5b764146846201ffdd407f3e85634?nocache=1
RealScaler 3.2
▼ NEW
New AI engine
⊡ 2x faster, up to 3x on powerful GPUs
⊡ Uses 50% less VRAM
⊡ More supported and frequently updated
⊡ Can utilize RAM to supplement GPU VRAM (not recommended for optimal performance)
FFMPEG 6.1.1
⊡ Updated FFMPEG to latest release 6.1.1 (from 4.2)
⊡ A long list of optimizations and bugfixes
⊡ Better support for newer cpus
⊡ Improved quality of upscaled video
Multi GPU support
⊡ Reintroduced the possibility to choose the GPU used for AI upscale
⊡ Is possible to choose between "High power GPU" and "Power Saving GPU"
▼ USER INTERFACE
File section improvements
⊡ The app now display the AI input resolution for any files loaded
⊡ The app now display the upscaled resolution for any files loaded
⊡ Changing "AI model" or "Input resolution %" value will dynamically update these values
UI re-design
⊡ "Input resolution %" default value is now 50%
⊡ Re-designed app widgets positioning for better usability
▼ BUGFIX / IMPROVEMENTS
Video upscale improvements
⊡ Video upscaling time estimation improved
⊡ Multi-threaded frame extraction (improved CPU usage)
⊡ Asynchronous frame saving (faster, avoids Windows Defender issues)
⊡ Upscaled video frames will NOT overwrite original frames
⊡ This will make it easier to check upscale quality
General improvements
⊡ Reduced app size by 50%
⊡ Bug fixes, code cleaning, performance improvements
⊡ Updated dependencies
▼ VirusTotal
⊡ https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/b35111d96431f2b41bdf8ce254f844d5b827c5a84e284afe2a349cf4be615549?nocache=1
RealScaler 2.13
◁ USER INTERFACE ▷
GUI code reorganization
⊡ Code cleaning and GUI fixes (fonts, buttons)
⊡ Added some function for future developments
Redesigned info and error widgets
⊡ now much more elegant and readable
⊡ added new informations for each widget
⊡ highlighted the default value for each widget
Some minor fixes
⊡ fixed Telegram button not working correctly
⊡ fixed GitHub button not working correctly
◁ BUGFIX / IMPROVEMENTS ▷
VRAM limiter
⊡ VRAM limiter fine-tuning to avoid out of memory errors
Nuitka 2.0
⊡ Updated the build tool to version 2.0.1
⊡ Better overall stability of the whole app
⊡ Better RAM management
General improvements
⊡ General bugfixes and code cleaning
⊡ General performance improvements
⊡ Many micro optimizations
⊡ Updated dependencies
Slightly revised the way upscaled images and videos are saved
⊡ this solves some problems with reading upscaled files
Upscaled video frames will be saved in a folder in the same location as original video
⊡ this makes easier to check quality of upscaled frames
⊡ in case of upscale stop the folder will NOT be deleted
⊡ the folder will be deleted at the end of upscaled video creation
⊡ this improvement is part of the STOP&RESUME functionality (will be implemented in future)
VirusTotal
https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/2b7eaa941df2366379b8bdb2869e74fe475ef2bea92397bf2f35b5a1bcd992b1
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◁ NEXT BIG RELEASE ▷
New AI engine
⊡ The development of the new AI engine has begun
⊡ Is faster than the current AI engine
⊡ Is much more supported and is updated often
⊡ Has the option to use RAM memory in addition to the GPU VRAM
⊡ Requires much less disk space
RealScaler 2.11
-
NEW
- Updated exiftool to version 12.70
- Support for metadata copy from original videos to upscaled videos
- Added more Interpolation options
- Low (30% original / 70% upscaled)
- Medium (50% original / 50% upscaled)
- High (70% original / 30% upscaled)
- Disabled (interpolation disabled)
-
GUI / UI
- Updated info texts, giving more information
- Input Resolution % default value changed to 60%
- Image output default value changed to .png
- Interpolation default value changed to Low
-
BUGFIX / IMPROVEMENTS
- Fixed upscaled video incorrect colorspace
- Tilling function improvements
- Completely revised how the app is built, using Nuitka (reducing antivirus false positive)
- Redesigned how the app reports upscale progress
- General bugfixes
- Code cleaning
- General performance improvements
- Updated dependencies
RealScaler 2.9
-
BUGFIX / IMPROVEMENTS
- Support for images and videos with special characters in path name
- Updated exiftool to version 12.68
- For AMD gpu users, I recommend upgrading to driver 23.11.1
- which contains performance improvements for DirectML-based applications
- Improvements for video upcaling
- upscaled frames will now overwrite original frame (to save disk space)
- for .mp4 output is possibile to select the codec, x264 or x265
- improved video bitrate from 4M (default value for ffmpeg) to 16M
- in future will be the possibility to select the desired bitrate
- Improvements processing black and white images
- General bugfixes, code cleaning and performance improvements
- Updated dependencies