How to Fix Grainy Video with 5 Easy Methods
- Last updated on 2024-11-14
Table Of Content
Introduction
Sometimes, while shooting a video, you give more focus to the content than to anything else. As a result, you end up with a grainy, blurry, or noisy video that would ruin the essence and aesthetics of your exclusive video content and context.
On the other hand, your old homemade videos, classic movie collections, black-and-white documentary clips, etc., are really hard to stream on your high-end digital device due to excessive grain or poor quality. So, it's time to see how to fix grainy video and enhance its quality using multiple options while figuring out the exact reasons behind this problem.
What is Video Grain
Video grain is a kind of “Texture” that seems like a silver particle in your visual experience. In the old times, videos were shot with analog cameras, and video grain was a very common and natural thing in videos.
However, with the advancement of technology in the age of digital cameras, we refer to this " silver-like texture” as “Digital artifacts or noise,” which has become an unwanted part of digital videography. Nowadays, video grains or noise are a result of certain mistakes in camera settings, lighting conditions, video compressions, etc.
Understanding Video Grain Types
While experimenting with methods of how to clean up grainy videos, you must know what types of grains you might face in any video. Different types of grains are caused by various factors in the video shooting process, equipment, and situations.
- Random Noise
This noise can be caused by the abrupt fluctuations of natural light.
- Read Noise
This is electronic noise, also known as banding noise. It mostly happens when the camera circuit reads the data from the camera sensor.
- Fixed Pattern Noise
This noise has been generated due to the variation of the individual pixels’ sensitivity in the camera sensor.
- Digital Camera Grain
It is caused by low lighting, high ISO settings, or other incorrect camera settings.
- Film Grain
When the video is shot on film, grains tend to be visible once you enlarge the video image.
- Black & White Grain
Old black-and-white videos shot on poor-quality cameras with low specifications have grains or unwanted artifacts.
- Luminous Noise
It is caused by appreciating lighting while shooting the video. The way a camera sensor responds to light variations could cause luminous noise. It makes the extra pixel visible and creates a grainy or noisy video.
- Color Noise
It is also known as chromatic noise or chrominance, appears as pixels/dots mixed with various colors and contrast. It is mostly seen in the darkest or lightest area of any video.
Why Does My Video Look Grainy
Before getting into the solution and steps for cleaning up grainy video, you must be aware of the exact reasons for the grain or noise. Knowing the exact reason for the video grain or noise will help you target the specific solution for it.
What causes grainy video
- If the camera is out of focus from the main subject while shooting
- Using poor or low-quality camera
- Camera malfunction with signal interference during data transmission
- Excessive zooming on the video footage
- If your hand or camera is shaking
- If any object moves very fast during the shoot
- Inappropriate camera settings with low aperture & high ISO settings
- Inadequate lighting with overexposure to light or night shooting
- Video file compression can cause video grain
- A camera with a small sensor can cause grain in the video
How to Fix Grainy Video: Multiple Methods
If you want to know the smartest and easiest solution on how to clean up grainy videos, here you will get multiple options to do that with step a step guide. From using high-end AI-powered digital noise reduction tools to multiple plugins, you can try various methods to fix video grains.
Method 1: How to make a grainy video clear using UniFab Denoise AI
Using the AI-powered UniFab Denoise AI, you can remove digital noise or grain with a few clicks and full automation without any complicated and manual steps. The AI algorithms in this tool eliminate digital noise while preserving its lost details and originality.
It automatically analyzes each frame of the video, detecting unwanted artifacts and removing them to deliver clear and crisp videos for high-quality streaming on high-end devices. Here are the attractive functions of this tool.
Key Features of UniFab Denoise AI
Versatile Video Denoising
UniFab removes any type of video noise—whether caused by high ISO, low lighting, or basic equipment—while restoring fine textures, vivid colors, and essential details.
High-Speed Conversion with GPU Acceleration
UniFab’s GPU acceleration increases video conversion speeds by 60–100%, providing faster results and a smoother workflow.
Accessible to All Users
With an intuitive, AI-powered interface, UniFab is ideal for everyone—from videographers and vloggers to casual users and business owners—allowing high-quality video enhancement without specialized knowledge.
Built-In Video Editing Toolkit
UniFab includes a full editing toolkit with features like splitting, cropping, trimming, sound effect customization, and background noise removal, making it an all-in-one video solution.
Customizable Output Settings
UniFab offers flexible output options, allowing you to adjust format, codec, frame rate, resolution, bitrate, and more, for complete control over your video’s final quality.
Denoising Performance with UniFab
Steps: How to clean up grainy video
30-day Free Trial with full feature access!
On your Windows/ Mac PC install & launch the UniFab program, head to the main interface to choose “Denoiser” Module.
Note: Download UniFab to enjoy two free AI tools: Vocal Remover & Video Background Remover.
Click the “Add” option to import the grainy video you want to denoise.
Here, you can customize and edit the video using various parameters, such as bitrate, codec, frame rate, resolution, etc. (You may also retain the default settings.)
Click “Start” to remove digital noise from your selected video.
Method 2: How to clean up a grainy video using video noise reduction plugins
Using video noise reduction plugins is a very convenient and smart way to reduce digital noise, grains, or any other imperfections from your videos. There are thousands of plugins available on the internet to help you remove any kind of digital noise, including grains, pixels, mosaics, blurs, etc., to add crispness and clarity to your video streaming experience.
So, while using any video editing software, app, or tool, you can use your required ready-to-use video grain-removing plugins to meet your specific denoising purpose. These plugins are available in both paid and free versions. Here are some common video denoising plugins: Magic Bullet Denoiser, Neat Video, Red Giant, Noiseware, Nik Define, etc.
Method 3: How to make a video less grainy by reducing the playback Window size
Reducing the playback window size is a trick for appearing less grainy on your video while streaming. This method automatically minimizes the digital grains, noise, or other imperfections in the video. However, using this method, you cannot permanently remove or repair video grains or noise. These grains will remain on the video, but in a smaller playback window, the video seems less grainy with its small appearance.
Method 4: How to fix grainy video using compatible video player
Sometimes, using incompatible video players can cause grainy video while streaming. Some video players have been encoded with such an algorithm that can't render certain types of videos that you might be streaming. As a result, you end up streaming video with unwanted grain and noise. In that case, all you need to do is change your video player instead of trying denoising, as there is no noise at all in the video.
Method 5: How to make a grainy video clear using a powerful system’s hardware
To play any high-resolution video, your computer needs a significant amount of resources. So, if you are playing a high-end video in a system with limited Harward capacity, you will end up with grainy video during streaming. So, you should increase your system’s hardware strength to stream any high-resolution video without grain or noise.
Conclusion
If you are struggling with unwanted grains or noise in your video and looking for the best option of how to fix grainy video, you can try any of the above-mentioned methods to get rid of it. However, if you don't want to get into any complex steps or technicalities, UniFab Denoise AI would be the best option for automatic noise reduction. Using this AI-based tool, you can eliminate digital grain from any video within a second, and your video will be crystal clear for your high-quality, seamless streaming.
FAQs
What are the precautions to avoid video grain?
- Shoot video with sufficient lighting conditions by avoiding overexposure to light or dense darkness of night
- Use appropriate camera settings with proper wide aperture & low ISO settings
- Use a camera with a wide sensor
- Use a camera stand to avoid any kind of shaking
- Activate the built-in noise reduction function in your camera
What are the commonly used filters to remove digital noise?
Spatial Filtering
Bilateral Faltering
Median Filter
Averaging Filter