Many people want to convert a video from 720p to 1080p to playback the video on a larger screen. Some need to merge a 720p video into a 1080p project in post editing. There are many video resolution converters. But most of them can't make the image quality better, and some even make it even worse. That's because the source video lacks of enough pixels. When enlarged, it gets pixelated or grainy.
This article will introduce 4 feasible ways to convert 720p SD videos to 1080p HD videos without losing much clarity. Among them, we recommend VideoProc Converter AI most, which utilizes the well-trained AI Super Resolution algorithms to generating and enhancing details.
1. How to Convert 720p to 1080p in VideoProc Converter AI
VideoProc Converter AI is an advanced software powered by state-of-the-art AI models. It specializes in changing video resolution and enhancing video quality up to 4K. With AI models trained with millions of data, it can upscale 720p videos and images to HD and UHD 4K, ensuring the highest visual quality. Additionally, it can fix common video issues, e.g. choppiness, blurriness, pixelation, and shakiness using AI Super Resolution, AI Frame Interpolation, and AI Stabilization.
Meanwhile, it has a full set of video dimensions and aspect ratio settings to convert 720p videos to 1080p for TV, iPad, Xbox, YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, and so forth, in the best form. Born as the best video converter, VideoProc Converter AI supports 420+ video formats and codecs, MP4, MKV, MOV, AVI, FLV, 4K, HDR, 3D, 360-degree, DVDs, etc., so you can load any video to it to process withou hassle.
Now download VideoProc Converter AI and follow the steps to upscale 720p to 1080p with best quality!
For mobile users, click here >
Note: The Windows version now supports AI-powered Super Resolution, Frame Interpolation, and Stabilization to enhance video and image quality. These AI features are not yet available in the Mac version but will be coming soon.
Rating: 4.7/5 
by 
The Super Resolution feature in VideoProc can scale up your images or videos by 200%, 300%, and 400% without requiring technical skill or experience. It's a significant improvement from the original. The enhanced video is much clearer and easier to watch.
Method 1: Upscale 720p Videos with AI Super Resolution
Step 1. Run VideoProc Converter AI on your computer. Open the "Super Resolution" module in it.
Step 2. Drag and drop your 720p video to its interface. You can add multiple files at a time as well.
Step 3. Choose the video type according to your source file – "Reality" or "Anime".
Step 4. Then set the Scale. Choose 2x to upscale the 720p video to 1440p, or choose 3x to upscale it to 2160p (4K). Both options can convert the 720p video to a higher quality effectively. In Super Resolution of VideoProc Converter AI, the maximum output resolution is 4K (up to 4000×4000px).
Step 5. Browse to select an output folder. Click the "RUN" button to export.
Method 2: Convert 720p to 1080p with Resolution Settings
Step 1. Open the software and click "Video Converter" on the main interface. Click "+Video" to add one or more 720 videos from your computer.
Step 2. Select an output format in "Video" at the bottom, e.g. MP4 H264. Click "Codec Option" button on the right and find Resolution under Video Codec Options. Click the drop-down menu and choose 1920x1080 or 2560x1080.
Step 3. Optionally, under "Quality", you can drag the control bar to the rightest to keep High Quality. You can also opt for "2-pass Encoding" to guarantee the high quality after encoding. But the two options will make the whole conversion process slower than normal.
Tips:
1. To convert a 720p video to 1080p with the best quality, we suggest you not make other changes of the source video, such as the format, codec, frame rate, bitrate and aspect ratio.
2. If necassary, tap Effect in the edit bar. You can apply an effect (filter), or adjust contrast, brightness, saturation and so on to make the video image look better.
Step 4. Click the "RUN" button on the bottom right and let VideoProc Converter AI start converting video to HD 1080p.
*The result also depends largely on the source video, for example, how was it shot, what the bitrates and frame rates are (which are related to quality).
Learn More about the Resolution Upscaling Tech in VideoProc Converter AI
- AI models: VideoProc Converter AI applies the Super-Resolution Model, GAN (Generative Adversarial Network) Model, and other models to process reality videos, AI-generated videos, animations, and other common videos respectively. So the image quality and details can be enhanced during the upscaling process with the most pleasing result.
- Nearest neighbor interpolation: To sum up, it is to add and to guess. First it adds a heap of "blank" pixels to an image, and tries to guess what each blank pixel should be filled with based on its 4 adjacent pixels.
- Bicubic interpolation: It is to add pixels to an image and take on a color based on the 16 nearby pixels. The main purpose is to smooth the color and make the added pixels look as soft as possible.
- Bilinear interpolation: Differently, it only checks the two neighboring blocks. The main purpose is to make the image look sharp.
2. How to Convert 720p to 1080p in Adobe Premiere
Adobe Premiere Pro uses a simple algorithm to upscale your video. Typically, it stretches the image out to the edges, and then interpolates back to fill the holes by adding pixels to the original pictures.
Step 1. Go to Adobe official website to download and install Premiere Pro. But this program is very large in installer size and is CPU-consuming. Please make sure your computer hardware is sufficient.
Step 2. Create a new project > go to File > New > Sequence > Sequence Presets. Choose a 1080p output option (for example, DSLR 1080p24). Set the frame rate and aspect ratio the same as your source file.
Step 3. Find Edit on the top menu bar, choose Preferences and click Media, click 'Set to frame size' under Default Media Scaling.
Step 4. Add your source 720p video into the project, drag it to the timeline and let it scale the video.
Step 5. Do some other settings according to your needs. Render your video and export it.
Downsides of this method: Since Adobe Premiere upscales 720p to 1080p in a simple way, your result file may have blurs or noises. You can use Super Resolution Plugin or 'details preserving upscale' effect in After Effects. Or, you can use the unsharp mask in Premiere Pro to improve the blurred part. Or, you can turn to a better 720p to 1080p converter like VideoProc Converter AI.
3. How to Convert 720p to 1080p Free with HandBrake
There is no 720P to 1080P converter online free. If you want a free solution, HandBrake is a good software option.
Step 1. Download and install HandBrake. Go to the official site of HandBrake, and download the latest version.
Step 2. Install and open the program. Drag your source 720p footage to HandBrake.
Step 3. Go to Dimensions, you will see the information about the original Width and Height. For example, Width: 1280, Height: 720. Change 720 Height to 1080, and change the Width accordingly, say, 1920.
Step 4. Click Browse next to Save As on the lower part, choose a path you want the output file to be saved, and type the file name.
Step 5. If no other settings needed, hit Stat Encode on the top menu bar.
Downsides of this method: It will take much more time to upscale and encode the video using HandBrake than VideoProc Converter AI. Besides, it only outputs 1080p videos in MKV and MP4.
4. How to Convert 720p to 1080p Online
If you don't want to install any software on your computer, online converters is your good option. For example, HDconvert. It's a powerful online video quality converter supports videos from 360p to UHD 4K. It has a step-by-step wizard to lead you to make a video HD easily, no complicated video parameters.
Step 1. Go to the official website of HDconvert online converter. Choose to convert a file now.
Step 2. Upload your video and set MP4 as the output format to proceed.
Step 3. To converter video to HD 1080p, upgeade to its premium plan, Otherwise, you are only allowed to convert the video to HD 720P.
Step 4. When it finishes the conversion, save the video to your device immediately as the download URL will expire in one day.
Downsides of this method: The online HD converter works more slowly than desktop software because it lacks of GPU acceleration. Besides, it imposes watermarks on the final video in the free version.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I convert 720p to 1080p in iMovie?
No. To edit a video easily on Mac, iMovie is the best free choice. But it does not allow you to export a 720p file into a 1080p one or higher. If you import a 720p video, the 1080p and 4K options will be grayed out.
How do I change from 480p to 1080p?
The way of changing from 480p to 1080p is similar to from converting 720p to 1080p. But please note that the bigger gap between the resolutions of source and final video files, the more pixels will be added and more guess works will be needed. It means the output image quality will then not as expected.
