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Develop module Color Smoothness slider

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Kevin Sholder

Kevin Sholder

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Joined
Apr 14, 2017
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69
Location
Dayton, Ohio, USA
Lightroom Experience
Intermediate
Lightroom Version
Classic
Lightroom Version Number
Lightroom Classic CC 8.2.1
Operating System
  1. Windows 10
In the older version of the Lightroom Missing FAQ it discusses the color smoothness slider as the default value working well for most images. It also indicates that moving the slider to the right increases smoothing at the cost of performance. Can someone possibly explain the "at the cost of performance statement?

Thanks,
Kevin
 
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Smoothing operations such as you describe are at the pixel level of the image. To blend (smooth) at a given pixel requires the averaging of the surrounding pixels to define a smoothed value for the pixel being adjusted. To increase smoothing, means that you need to draw your smoothing value from a larger pool of surrounding pixel values. This process must be repeated for each pixel in the image and performance is determined by how many values are being included and how many pixels are being adjusted.
 
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So put another way, Lightroom gets slower the higher you push that slider, because it's having to do ever more complex calculations. (But Clee had a way more geeky and accurate explanation)
 
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Thanks you both for the replies. I figured it would get "slower" but why and how much was the heart of the question. It sounds like then the more varied the scene in terms of color and tonal value the more it has to work.

I've just started to explore this slider in more detail than previously, haven't used it at all in the past. Does anyone automatically add smoothness on import as a part of a preset due to camera limitations? I'm considering upping the smoothness a bit for my import preset. It also sounds like this could be more useful for portraits in general, especially headshots or scenes with more limited details, is this true as well?

Thanks,
Kevin
 
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I've found the default is generally about right for average photos. I only usually fiddle with it on really high iso, where you can start to see some color blotchiness.
 
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