QBeo has applied its ImageOp technology to Mac OS X and is demoing PhotoGenetics 2.0 for Mac OS X and VideoGenetics 1.0 for Mac OS X at this week’s Macworld Expo in San Francisco.
QBeo is featured in Macworld’s new “Special Interest Boulevard” in the Moscone Convention Center. The company’s imaging technology, ImageOp, makes it easy for anyone to improve digital pictures or video, according to Mark Hayrynen, director of business development for QBeo. ImageOp automatically alters 12 characteristics such as hue, gradient, color balance, saturation and contrast. Users simply rate which version of the image looks best to them, and ImageOp takes care of the rest, says Hayrynen.
“QBeo has strong ties to the Mac community, since our imaging technology was initially developed for the Macintosh,” Hayrynen said. “We created Mac OS X versions of our popular imaging software not only for the benefit of our current Mac-based customers, but also to appeal to the next generation of Mac users.”
PhotoGenetics is a US$29.95 application (by electronic download, $39.95 for a CD) that’s designed to improve underexposed, low contrast, color biased, hazy or faded digital images. They can be improved by simply comparing the original against variations that are created by PhotoGenetics. Version 2.0 is even more intuitive than the previous version and makes it faster and easier for consumers to enhance pictures, according to Del Clark, president of QBeo.
Key features of PhotoGenetics 2.0 include immediate application of enhancements, real-time previewing and automatic color shift correction. This means that people will not only be able to enhance photos more quickly, but also see what an enhancement would look like before applying it, Clark says. In addition, the new version makes it easier to name, manage and edit enhancement files (called genotypes).
VideoGenetics, at $199.95, lets digital video enthusiasts, professionals and consumers enhance their digital video. The software uses a similar interface as PhotoGenetics, but is designed to enhance digital video rather than digital images. From the computer screen, a user views two displays side by side: a sample of the original video on the left, and a first variation on the right. The software generates the variations by manipulating a dozen characteristics such as hue, gradient, sharpness and color balance. But you don’t even need to know what these characteristics are, let alone how they are adjusted or interact, says Clark.
VideoGenetics will automatically apply desired enhancements to the original video. When the user is satisfied with the results, the enhancements can be saved separately to conserve file space. More than one set of enhancements may be applied to a video and linked with fade-ins and fade-outs.
The Mac OS X versions of PhotoGenetics 2.0 and VideoGenetics 1.0 support faster image and video processing speeds as a result of the new operating system’s G4 Altivec acceleration and support for multiple processors.
QuickTime is also accelerated under OS X, resulting in a significant performance boost for VideoGenetics, according to Clark. Both versions of QBeo’s software include an Aqua interface.
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