Ganesh,
Thanks a lot for the insight. In fact I never thought about 'softening' at all. I have slightly deviated from your suggestion and instead of softening the image, I have completely opted out of sharpening. Here is the link for the same.
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=339Let me know your thoughts. Best part of being in CNP is this - constant learning to improve one's thought process!