bulia byak wrote:

I committed the patch by Jasper which implements a faster blur algorithm, so now the Gaussian blur must be noticeably faster in the SVN trunk.

Everyone using gaussian blur, please test the new code with regard to:

• any especially bad artefacts? (as before, lowering quality in

Preferences > Filters introduces some artefacts, but they look reasonable, I think even nicer than with the old algorithm)

The fact that these artifacts look nicer has to do with the fact that the patch also changes the downsampling method (so if the IIR filter doesn't turn out to be a good idea, that part could still be used).

• how much faster it is on your images? (test on different zooms and

with export; we need some estimates to put into the release notes)

When testing, keep in mind that the patch should have the most impact on the best and better settings (as well as export), when viewing with average (or lower) quality the original filter is used most of the time. So if you don't notice much of a difference with those lower quality settings try exporting and/or a higher quality setting. On the other hand, if you do notice a difference (either positive or negative) on lower quality settings that would also be of interest, of course.

• is the range of quality/speed settings adequate? or would you like

to have a still faster/lower quality step?

Also, there is currently no way to completely avoid the IIR filter (the faster blur) at best quality. It might be a good idea to add that, in case there turn out to be artifacts later on (or if someone wants to generate a reference image for example).