2024 Best 5 4K Upscalers: Upscale SD/HD Videos to 4K

4K video is everywhere, but not all videos are created equal. If your library is full of SD or HD content, don’t despair! Software solutions can breathe new life into your videos by upscaling them to 4K resolution. In this article we’ll unveil the best 4K upscalers to upscale your videos to stunning 4K in a flash.

1. Winxvideo AI

Winxvideo AI is capable of upscaling images and videos to 4K. Its Level-3 Hardware Acceleration makes light work of processing, even for CPU-intensive videos.

Unlike many AI 4K upscalers that struggle on lower-end machines, Winxvideo AI shines. Its lightweight design tackles low-resolution videos with ease, delivering a smooth upscaling experience regardless of your hardware. Winxvideo AI simplifies the process, making 4K content creation accessible to everyone.

Main features:

Bring old videos back to life: Upscale and enhance grainy, low-resolution footage to stunning 4K quality.

Boost image clarity: Restore and upscale photos to exceptional 4K, 8K, or even 10K resolution.

Steady shaky videos: Eliminate camera jitters for smooth, professional-looking footage.

Create slow motion effects: Increase frame rate to 60fps, 120fps, or even 240fps for incredible slow-motion sequences.

Ultimate format flexibility: Convert seamlessly between popular video formats like MP4, MOV, MKV, and more.

Effortless audio conversion: Convert audio formats like MP3, AAC, and FLAC with ease.

Compress videos efficiently: Reduce file size by up to 90% without sacrificing quality, perfect for sharing.

Record anything: Capture your screen, webcam, gameplay, online courses, and streaming videos with ease.

Edit like a pro: Cut, trim, crop, watermark, add effects, create subtitles, and more — all within Winxvideo AI.

Pricing: Try before you buy with a free trial version. Get a lifetime license for just $45.95, or choose a 1-year plan for $25.95.

Here are the steps on how to upscale video to 4K with Winxvideo AI.

Step 1. Download and install Winxvideo AI.

Step 2. Open Winxvideo AI, select Video Converter, and then click the “+ Video” button to browse and select your videos for upscaling. You can even add multiple clips for batch processing, saving you time.

Step 3. Click “Target Format”, navigate to “General Profiles” and select a 4K preset, such as “4K MP4 Video”.

You can use the slider to adjust the profile to “HQ”, even though it might take longer. Additionally, you can check the “Use High Quality Engine” option for an extra boost in quality.

This software also offers additional features like hardware encoder selection (Intel, NVIDIA), video merging, trimming, and deinterlacing. Customize these settings based on your needs.

Step 4. Once you’re happy with your settings, simply click the “RUN” button to begin upscaling your videos to 4K resolution. The finished videos will be saved in your designated destination folder, ready for you to enjoy.

Tips: For an extra quality boost, explore Winxvideo AI’s Video AI feature. Simply activate “Super Resolution” and choose “Enhance Video (1x)”. This will enhance the quality of your video without affecting its resolution.

2. Topaz Video AI

Topaz Video AI, from the experts at Topaz Labs, is a powerful 4K upscaler that takes your videos to the next level. It leverages cutting-edge machine learning to transform your footage, not just by increasing resolution, but by preserving and enhancing details.

In addition to 4K, Topaz Video AI can also upscale your videos to a crisp 8K resolution, perfect for large displays and future-proofing your projects.

Unlike simple 4K upscalers, Topaz Video AI goes beyond just stretching pixels. It analyzes vast amounts of video data to understand and recreate missing details, resulting in remarkably realistic and natural-looking high-resolution footage.

Topaz Video AI intelligently analyzes and preserves motion information across multiple video frames, ensuring smooth and consistent playback even at higher resolutions.

To upscale video to 4K, follow these steps.

Step 1. Download and install Topaz Video AI on your computer.

Step 2. Open Topaz Video AI and click Browse button to import the video you want to upscale to 4K.

Step 3. Go to Presets and select “Upscale to 4K”.

Step 4. Click Export button to export the new 4K file.

3. AVCLabs Video Enhancer AI

Powered by cutting-edge AI, AVCLabs Video Enhancer AI breathes new life into your videos. It can upscale footage from grainy 480p all the way up to stunning 4K or even 8K resolution.

AVCLabs utilizes a deep learning model trained on vast amounts of video data. This allows it to predict missing details and reconstruct frames at a higher resolution, resulting in sharper, clearer videos.

It is also important to note that AVCLabs Video Enhancer AI tackles a variety of video imperfections automatically. It can deblur shaky videos, remove noise, deinterlace for smoother playback, sharpen details, enhance and correct colors, and even insert missing frames or remove scratches.

Let’s check how it works.

Step 1. Download and install AVCLabs Video Enhancer AI. Once launched, you can either click “Browse” to select your low-resolution video files or simply drag and drop them directly into the software.

Step 2. After adding your video, you can select the desired upscaling method.

To set the output resolution to 4K, you have two options:

In the “Preset” panel, simply select the “Upscale to 4K” option.

Alternatively, click the “Video-Out” dropdown menu and choose “4K.” Here, you can also pick your preferred frame rate for the upscaled video. Selecting a higher resolution will automatically activate the AI Enhancement feature.

Step 3. Once you’re happy with your settings, click the “Eye” button to preview 30 frames of the processed video and ensure it looks as expected.

Step 4. Click the “Start Processing” button to begin upscaling your video to 4K resolution.

4. Adobe Premiere Pro

While not solely dedicated to upscaling, Adobe Premiere Pro is a powerful tool for video editors that can also handle upscaling tasks with ease. It allows you to seamlessly convert your footage from 1080p to crisp 4K resolution.

Premiere Pro leverages GPU acceleration to significantly boost the upscaling process. This means you’ll see faster results, especially when working on a powerful computer.

Of course, Premiere Pro offers a vast array of video editing features beyond upscaling. You can use it for color correction, adding effects, and creating professional-looking productions.

Here’re the steps to upscale video to 4K with Adobe Premiere Pro.

Step 1. Download and install Adobe Premiere Pro on your device. Once launched, create a new project and give it a descriptive name.

Step 2. Drag and drop your video file into the timeline panel to create a sequence.

Step 3. Head to the Sequence menu in the top panel and select “Sequence Settings”. Here, adjust the frame size to 3840 x 2160 pixels, which is the standard for 4K resolution. Additionally, check the boxes for “Maximum Render Quality” and “Maximum Bit Depth” to ensure the highest quality output. Click “OK” to save these settings.

Step 4. Right-click on the sequence in the timeline and choose “Set to Frame Size”. This ensures your video clip matches the 4K sequence settings.

Step 5. Press “Ctrl + M” (or “Command + M” on Mac) to open the Export window. Navigate to the “Video” section and scroll down to “Bitrate Encoding”. Here, set both “Maximum Bitrate” and “Target Bitrate” to 50 Mbps. This high bitrate helps maintain video quality during upscaling.

Step 6. Click “Export” to begin upscaling your video to 4K resolution. Once finished, you’ll find the exported video file in your chosen output location.

5. UniFab Enlarger AI

This AI-powered software utilizes cutting-edge technology to automatically upscale your videos to crisp 720p, 1080p, or even stunning 4K resolution. But it doesn’t stop there. UniFab Enlarger AI also boasts advanced clarity enhancement features, bringing sharper details and a more realistic visual experience to your footage.

On top of that, built-in editing tools allow you to personalize your videos further by cutting, trimming, and tailoring them to your exact needs.

And to make things even faster, UniFab Enlarger AI leverages GPU acceleration to deliver upscaling speeds up to 50 times quicker than traditional methods.

Step 1. Install and launch UniFab. Once it’s open, navigate to the “Enlarger” module. This is where the video upscaling magic happens!

Step 2. Click the “Add Video” button and select the video you want to upscale to 4K resolution.

Step 3. UniFab Enlarger AI gives you control over the final output. Here you can customize the quality and resolution to 4K, along with other settings like codec and frame rate. Once you’re happy with your selections, click “OK” to begin the upscaling process.

Ready to upscale your videos to 4K? Choose the 4K upscaling software that best suits your needs and get started on transforming your video library!