Preserve the original and describe the copy
Keep the source unchanged. Identify the enhanced output as a derivative and record the input, settings, version and transformation. Keep both source and derived output available in the record. An improvement in visibility or listening comfort is not new captured information.
Image and document signals
Image denoising uses redundant structure within the captured image. Document enhancement can emphasise recorded gradients under suitable lighting. Raking-light and transmitted-light workflows cannot recover their required signal from an ordinary evenly lit scan. Avoid reading enhanced marks without examining the original and capture conditions.
Audio enhancement and transcription
Noise reduction and gain adjustment can make a listening copy clearer, but may change the prominence of speech and noise components. Prepare the forensic draft transcript from the original recording. Keep low-confidence words visible and record the transcript’s verification state before release. Do not silently turn an uncertain phrase into a clean-looking quotation.
Video working copies
The described frame enhancement combines real information from a short burst of nearby frames and adjusts local contrast. Alignment errors, motion and occlusion remain important. Selected anchor points do not amount to exhaustive examination of every frame.
Guard against unsupported reconstruction
Generative upscaling can produce plausible details that the source does not support. Do not treat an invented feature as captured evidence. A clearer-looking face, character or object does not prove what was present in the original. A reviewer should be able to inspect the transformation and understand its limitations.
Present enhanced exhibits responsibly
- Label the original and working copy distinctly.
- Record the region or time interval and preserve context.
- Provide parameters and an explanation of the processing.
- Disclose artifacts, alignment problems and uncertainty.
- Keep captured observations separate from any generated reconstruction.