Frequently Asked Questions

CrispVid for Mac is a dedicated Mac app for SUPERSCALE video enhancement, powered by CRISPCORE™ — the same technology behind crispvid.com, built into a native Mac app.

macOS 14.4 or later, on an Apple Silicon Mac (M-series chip).

Not for the free trial — that works immediately with no sign-in. For full, unwatermarked processing you'll need a crispvid.com account (the same account works on the web app), used either to spend credits or to unlock Lifetime Access.

Yes. Signing in on Mac uses your existing crispvid.com account, and your credit balance is shared between the web app and the Mac app.

Any common video file your Mac can already play — MP4, MOV, and other QuickTime-compatible formats.

Choose MP4 or MOV as the container, and H.264 or HEVC as the encoding — both selectable before you begin. Audio can be kept (default) or turned off. Color characteristics (HDR, BT.601, BT.709) are read from your source and carried through to the output, rather than assumed.

No — output frame rate always matches your source exactly, including fractional rates like 23.976 or 29.97. There's no conversion step to introduce judder or drift.

Yes, 30 seconds per clip, the same limit as the web app. Trim longer footage before importing — you'll see "Video exceeds the 30 sec limit" if a clip doesn't fit.

2K SUPERSCALE outputs up to 1440p (short edge). 4K SUPERSCALE outputs up to 2160p (short edge). Both use CRISPCORE™ super-resolution to sharpen edges, recover texture, and reduce compression artifacts; 4K takes more processing time and more credits, and produces a higher-resolution result.

For 2K SUPERSCALE, 360p or above works, and 540p or above gives the best results. For 4K SUPERSCALE, 540p or above works, and 720p or above gives the best results. Going below the recommended floor still processes — you'll just see an advisory notice.

Each tier has an output ceiling — 2K at 1440p, 4K at 2160p. If your source already meets or exceeds that ceiling, enhancing further would only downscale the image, so CrispVid disables the tier rather than charge you for a result that isn't actually an upgrade (you'll see "Already 2K quality" or "Already 4K quality"). This applies even if you own Lifetime Access.

2K and 4K describe the output resolution, not a quality guarantee — they're enhancement tiers, not a certification of image quality. The result is still bounded by your source: a low-quality or heavily compressed clip has less real detail to recover than a clean, well-shot one. Resolution and visual quality aren't the same thing.

Yes. Depending on your source resolution and the tier you choose, CrispVid automatically selects the right enhancement mode — there's nothing to configure manually.

Drop in a video, pick 2K SUPERSCALE or 4K SUPERSCALE and your output settings, then click Begin SUPERSCALE. You'll see a live progress bar and estimated time remaining. When it finishes, a before/after slider lets you compare the result against your original before you export.

Click EXPORT once processing finishes to save the result wherever you choose. Set a default export location in Preferences (⌘,) if you'd rather not pick a folder every time.

CrispVid asks you to confirm first — closing the window or quitting (⌘Q) mid-job shows a confirmation, since a cancelled job can't be resumed. Confirm to cancel and quit, or dismiss to keep processing.

Yes, at any point. A cancelled or failed job on Mac is always refunded automatically.

No sign-in required. It produces a 2-second clip with a "CRISPVID PREVIEW" watermark so you can judge quality before spending anything. It's a one-time trial — the app remembers you've used it even if you delete and reinstall.

If you cancel before the first frame finishes processing, your trial isn't counted as used and remains available. Once processing has actually started, the trial is spent.

Credits are shared with your crispvid.com account and are spent the moment you click Begin SUPERSCALE. The app doesn't sell credits directly — top up any time at crispvid.com and they'll be available next time you sign in on Mac.

A one-time in-app purchase. Once bought, processing on Mac never spends credits again, for as long as you use the app. It's separate from your crispvid.com credit balance, which still applies on the web app.

You'll see this before processing begins, not after. Top up at crispvid.com, or purchase Lifetime Access from the account menu to skip credits going forward.

If you cancelled the purchase yourself, that's expected — CrispVid stays silent rather than show an error for something you chose to do. If something actually failed, you'll see a message on screen describing it.

Email hi@crispvid.com with what you were doing and, if relevant, a screenshot of any message you saw — we'll help you sort it out.