Upscayl

Higher resolution displays are becoming more prevalent nowadays, and besides offering one a sharper display, higher pixel densities also serve to highlight content clarity problems, which become more noticeable than on a lower resolution set. Upscaling your content to improve its overall presentation on high-resolution displays is a practice that's getting increasingly more relevant these days, and for good reason.

Upscayl allows users to upscale their images, without requiring any knowledge on the mater. Simply feed your photo into the program, and it'll start working on it right away. Camera stills, as well as digital artwork, are the supported photo types, so the software casts quite a big net with the supported content.

The upscaler tool uses an artificial intelligence algorithm to enhance the clarity of your images. The algorithm itself cannot be customized, though there are two upscaling types available. One is for general photos, which you can use to upscale your day-to-day camera shots, while the other serves to improve the sharpness of digital art. There's no information on the approaches of these types, so it's best you pick the relevant one for your photo.

The interface is straightforward, and the lack of options means that any type of user can pick up the software to start upscaling their images. You essentially only have to interact with a few buttons, and the program will do the rest.

It's worth mentioning that the program is hardware-dependent. A dedicated GPU with Vulkan support is required, so delegating the work to the CPU or iGPU won't work here. If you do have an iGPU, and want to try out the program, expect some very long upscaling times.

Upscayl can make for a nice entry into upscaling software: it's accessible to anyone, and it's pretty much as straightforward as they come. Select an image, a relevant upscaling type, and on you go.