Stephen WaltonAiarty Video Enhancer is desktop software that uses AI to upscale, sharpen and clean up video, all the way to 4K. I tested it on two very different clips: a tiny old phone video from Amsterdam and a good-quality 1080p film shot in the iPhotography office.
The short version is that it made the good clip crisper and the old clip brighter and a little cleaner. It isn’t magic and it isn’t quick, so here’s what I found.
What Is Aiarty Video Enhancer?
It’s a program for Windows and Mac that runs on your own computer. You load a video, choose an AI model and a target size, and it rebuilds each frame at a higher resolution. Aiarty says everything is processed locally, so nothing gets uploaded.
As well as upscaling, it can add extra frames for smoother motion, convert footage to HDR and clean up background noise in the audio. Aiarty aims it at everyone from YouTubers and videographers to families with fuzzy old home videos.
The three AI video models
You get three models. moDetail-HQ v3 adds detail and sharpness and is tuned for hair, skin and plants. Smooth-HQ v3 goes for a natural, faithful look. superVideo vHQ is the one Aiarty built for grainy, low-light and blurry clips.
How I Tested It
My PC has an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660, an older mid-range graphics card. That matters, because the software relies on your graphics card to do the heavy work.
Test 1: an old phone video
The first is a 40-second clip from Amsterdam, recorded on an old phone at just 240 by 176 pixels and about 15 frames per second. Plenty of us have videos like this sitting on an old hard drive.
Test 2: a good-quality 1080p video
The second is a 25-second 1080p clip at 24 frames per second, filmed in our office. I used moDetail-HQ v3 at x2 to take it to 4K, which is 3840 by 2160 pixels.
How to upscale a video in Aiarty
- Drag your video into the window, or click the plus button.
- Choose your AI model and upscale size on the right.
- Tick any extras you want, such as Frame Interpolation or Audio Denoise.
- Click Add Task.
- Click Export Current to start.
Results: Old Phone Video vs Good-Quality Footage
The Amsterdam clip came out brighter and a little cleaner, but it wasn’t the big change people might expect. There’s very little detail in 240 pixels, and the AI can only guess at what was never recorded.
The 1080p office clip was a different story, and at 4K it looked noticeably crisper and sharper.
The catch with AI video upscaling
So the better your starting file, the better your result. That’s true of most upscaling, although it sits awkwardly with the main reason people buy this kind of software, which is to rescue footage that was poor to begin with.
How Long Does Aiarty Video Enhancer Take?
Video upscaling is slow, so go in expecting that, because a video is thousands of separate frames rather than one photo.
On my GTX 1660 the 25-second office clip, with Frame Interpolation and Audio Denoise also switched on, was working at 0.3 frames per second. After two minutes and 19 seconds, the software estimated another 25 minutes to go. Length and resolution make a big difference, so on an older PC a longer video becomes an overnight job.
Turbo and Step Mode
Two switches change the balance between speed and quality. Turbo is built for speed with a slight drop in quality, and Aiarty’s own figure is three times faster, measured on an NVIDIA RTX 5090. Step Mode does the opposite, improving quality and using less graphics memory but running much more slowly.
Frame Interpolation, HDR and Audio Denoise
Frame Interpolation adds in-between frames to smooth out motion, and it can also create slow motion. I set the office clip to 50 frames per second, but the exported file I have is 24 frames per second, so I can’t tell you whether the setting took.
HDR is marked experimental, with models including Bright and Neutral. My Amsterdam export came out as an HDR file, which is worth knowing if you plan to share it somewhere that doesn’t support HDR, because the colours can look washed out.
Audio Denoise uses a model called VoiceFilter v3.0. On my office clip it gave the voices that slightly underwater sound you often hear from noise removal, and it didn’t help. It might do better on a clip with a properly noisy background, such as wind or traffic.
Where Aiarty Video Enhancer Falls Short
The interface wants to feel like a one-click tool, but it isn’t obvious where to click or what each button sets off. I found it hard to tell when a video was already exporting and when it was still waiting to be converted.
Add the long render times and this isn’t something you dip into for a quick fix, because you set it going and walk away.
My bigger issue comes from the tests themselves. The clips that most need rescuing improved the least, and the clip that improved the most was already good, which to me feels like it defeats the purpose.
Aiarty Video Enhancer FAQ
Is there a free version of Aiarty Video Enhancer?
Yes, you can try it free before you buy. The full version is a one-off lifetime licence rather than a subscription.
Can it turn old phone videos into 4K?
It can make them bigger, brighter and a little cleaner, but don’t expect a tiny clip to look like modern footage. In my test the improvement was modest.
How long does it take to upscale a video?
It depends on the length, the resolution and your graphics card. My 25-second clip was on course for around half an hour on a GTX 1660.
Does Aiarty Video Enhancer work offline?
Yes, Aiarty says all processing happens on your own computer, so nothing is uploaded.
What file types can it export?
MP4, MKV and MOV, with H.264 and H.265 among the video codecs.
Final Thoughts
Aiarty Video Enhancer gets a 7.5 out of 10 from me. It made good footage look noticeably crisper at 4K, and it gave a tiny old phone clip a brighter, cleaner finish.
It’s slow on an older PC, the interface could be clearer and the oldest clips improve the least. If you have decent footage you’d like to push to 4K, or you’re curious what it can do with your old videos, try the free version on a short clip first.
Aiarty Video Enhancer: try it free
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Disclaimer: This is a paid software review by iPhotography for Aiarty. The tests, the results and the opinions are all mine.
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