Contents

Quick Verdict: AI Upscaler vs. Free Upscales
Part 1. Upscale Video with the Easiest AI Video Enhancer
Part 2. Use VLC Player to Upscale Videos for Free
Part 3. Increase Your Video Resolution with FFmpeg for Techies
Part 4. FAQs of Upscaling Video

How to Upscale Video and Get Higher Resolution Easily

February 10, 2026Ashley Mae

Do you have old family recordings, DVD rips, or low-resolution phone clips that look blurry on your modern 4K TV? You are not alone. With the rise of high-definition displays, 480p and 720p content often looks pixelated and grainy.

In the past, "upscaling" meant simply stretching the image, which resulted in a blurry mess. Today, AI Video Upscaling uses machine learning to generate new pixels, filling in the details to create crisp, high-quality footage.

This guide explores the how to upscale video to 1080p and 4K, comparing professional AI tools against free media players.

Quick Verdict: AI Upscaler vs. Free Upscales

Before diving into the steps, here is a quick comparison of the methods available in 2026.

Feature	Aiseesoft Video Converter Ultimate	VLC Media Player	FFmpeg
Technology	AI Deep Learning (Adds Detail)	Lanczos (Stretches Image)	Command Line (Bicubic)
Upscaling Quality	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Crisp)	⭐⭐ (Slight Blur)	⭐⭐⭐ (Depends on code)
Noise Reduction	✅ Auto-AI Denoise	❌ Manual Filter	⚠️ Complex Code
Ease of Use	One-Click	Easy	Difficult
Best For	Restoring old footage/DVDs	Playback only	Developers/Techies

Part 1. Upscale Video with the Easiest Video Enhancer

If you are looking for a professional video enhancer, then you shouldn't miss Aiseesoft Video Converter Ultimate, the best video upscaling software ever. It allows you to improve video quality and brings you vivid image effect. Besides increasing video resolution, it also can help you fix the blurry problem caused by camera shake. So, you don't have to worry about your shaky hand any more.

Key Features

• Upscale video quality and add more video/audio effects, including 3D.

• Export 1080p HD/4K UHD video in any formats as you like.

• Optimize brightness/contrast and remove video noise automatically.

• Reduce video shaking to get a stable video file.

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And this program is very simple to use. Here are the steps of enhancing video with Aiseesoft Video Converter Ultimate.

Step 1.

Download and install this software to your computer.

Step 2.

Please launch the video enhancer that you have just installed. Then click the Click or drag & drop file(s) here button and select the video you want to upscale.

Step 3.

Select the AI Model to upscale the video based on your needs.

Choose AI Model of Aiseesoft Video Upscaler

Step 4.

Now you can decide how to enhance your video quality. There are various AI models for you to realize different aims: upscale resolution, optimize brightness & contrast, remove video noise and reduce video shaking. If you only need to upscale resolution, then tick the General Enhancement Model.

Step 5.

Click the Preview button to compare the upscaled one and the original version and save it by hitting the Export Full Video button.

Aiseesoft Video Enhancer Preview And Export Interface

Part 2. Use VLC Player to Upscale Videos

Apart from being a media player, VLC actually can help you with simple video enhancement. If you have installed VLC on your computer already and do not ask for much, then it will be enough for you to enhance your video with the effect feature that VLC offers. Please follow the steps below to improve video.

Step 1.

Open the video file with VLC Media Player. Then click Tools in the menu bar and select Effects and Filters. Or you can simply click the Adjust icon at the bottom of the window.

Step 2.

Navigate to Video Effects tab, and enable the options that you want to adjust by checking the boxes in front of them. Then you can move the sliders to change the value of hue, brightness, contrast, radius, etc. You can always revert your changes by unchecking each box.

Step 3.

All the changes will be displayed instantly. You can preview the effect at the same time. After adjusting, please Save your changes.

Part 3. Increase Your Video Resolution with FFmpeg

The last tool we are going to share with you is FFmpeg, which is a free and open-source software project based on command lines. It can handle multimedia files and streams. You can use it to convert, edit and upscale/downscale your videos with a few commands. But it can be a little hard for beginners to understand how it works.

Step 1.

Install FFmpeg to your computer correctly and initiate Command Prompt.

Step 2.

To upscale video to 1080p, please input:

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf scale=1920x1080:flags=lanczos output_1080p.mp4

To upscale to 4K video, please input:

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf scale=3840x2560:flags=lanczos -c:v libx264 -preset slow -crf 21 output_compress_4k.mp4

Part 4. FAQs of Upscaling Video

1. What does high-definition mean?

High-definition video, also known as HD video, is a video with high resolution and quality. For common high-definition video, we have 720p, 1080i, 1080p and 1440p. But these are not the highest resolution. For now, ultra-high-definition video, such as 4K video and even 8K video, can perform higher effect than common high-definition video.

2. How to fix a blurry video?

You can use Aiseesoft Video Enhancer to fix that problem. Just enable the Upscale Resolution, Optimize Brightness & Contrast and Remove Video Noise options when you enhance video. That may help you make the blurry video clearer.

3. Can HandBrake upscale video?

As is said in HandBrake's official documentation, you will obtain nothing by upscaling with HandBrake. It is difficult to control the file size. Sometimes you may even get a video with lower quality but larger size.

Conclusion

After reading the methods above, you can see that the most convenient and helpful video upscaling software is Aiseesoft Video Converter Ultimate. Compared with VLC and FFmpeg, it is much more professional and easier to use. All the adjustments will be done automatically, so you don't have to try hard to find the best value of hue, brightness and contrast.

So, why don't you download the video enhancer and upscale your video right now? Feel free to contact us if you have further questions.