# AIM 2020 Challenge on Rendering Realistic Bokeh

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2011.04988 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2011.04988/

## Key facts

- Cited by 26 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 10 Nov 2020.

## Built on by (most cited first, 26 of 26)

- [Refusion: Enabling Large-Size Realistic Image Restoration with Latent-Space Diffusion Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.08291/) (2023)
- [BokehMe: When Neural Rendering Meets Classical Rendering](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2206.12614/) (2022)
- [Learned Smartphone ISP on Mobile NPUs with Deep Learning, Mobile AI 2021 Challenge: Report](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2105.07809/) (2021)
- [Real-Time Quantized Image Super-Resolution on Mobile NPUs, Mobile AI 2021 Challenge: Report](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2105.07825/) (2021)
- [DoF-NeRF: Depth-of-Field Meets Neural Radiance Fields](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2208.00945/) (2022)
- [Fast and Accurate Single-Image Depth Estimation on Mobile Devices, Mobile AI 2021 Challenge: Report](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2105.08630/) (2021)
- [Real-Time Video Super-Resolution on Smartphones with Deep Learning, Mobile AI 2021 Challenge: Report](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2105.08826/) (2021)
- [MPIB: An MPI-Based Bokeh Rendering Framework for Realistic Partial Occlusion Effects](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2207.08403/) (2022)
- [Efficient and Accurate Quantized Image Super-Resolution on Mobile NPUs, Mobile AI & AIM 2022 challenge: Report](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2211.05910/) (2022)
- [Fast Camera Image Denoising on Mobile GPUs with Deep Learning, Mobile AI 2021 Challenge: Report](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2105.08629/) (2021)
- [Learned Smartphone ISP on Mobile GPUs with Deep Learning, Mobile AI & AIM 2022 Challenge: Report](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2211.03885/) (2022)
- [Bokehlicious: Photorealistic Bokeh Rendering with Controllable Apertures](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.16067/) (2025)
- [Fast and Accurate Quantized Camera Scene Detection on Smartphones, Mobile AI 2021 Challenge: Report](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2105.08819/) (2021)
- [Defocus to focus: Photo-realistic bokeh rendering by fusing defocus and radiance priors](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2306.04506/) (2023)
- [BokehDiff: Neural Lens Blur with One-Step Diffusion](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.18060/) (2025)
- [Dynamic Neural Radiance Field From Defocused Monocular Video](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.05586/) (2024)
- [DoF-Gaussian: Controllable Depth-of-Field for 3D Gaussian Splatting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.00746/) (2025)
- [Efficient Single-Image Depth Estimation on Mobile Devices, Mobile AI & AIM 2022 Challenge: Report](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2211.04470/) (2022)
- [Bokeh-Loss GAN: Multi-Stage Adversarial Training for Realistic Edge-Aware Bokeh](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2208.12343/) (2022)
- [Adaptive Mask-based Pyramid Network for Realistic Bokeh Rendering](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2210.16078/) (2022)
- [Power Efficient Video Super-Resolution on Mobile NPUs with Deep Learning, Mobile AI & AIM 2022 challenge: Report](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2211.05256/) (2022)
- [BokehOrNot: Transforming Bokeh Effect with Image Transformer and Lens Metadata Embedding](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2306.04032/) (2023)
- [Realistic Bokeh Effect Rendering on Mobile GPUs, Mobile AI & AIM 2022 challenge: Report](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2211.06769/) (2022)
- [The First Controllable Bokeh Rendering Challenge at NTIRE 2026](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.05510/) (2026)
- [GBSD: Generative Bokeh with Stage Diffusion](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2306.08251/) (2023)
- [MODEST: Multi-Optics Depth-of-Field Stereo Dataset](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2511.20853/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

This paper reviews the second AIM realistic bokeh effect rendering challenge and provides the description of the proposed solutions and results. The participating teams were solving a real-world bokeh simulation problem, where the goal was to learn a realistic shallow focus technique using a large-scale EBB! bokeh dataset consisting of 5K shallow / wide depth-of-field image pairs captured using the Canon 7D DSLR camera. The participants had to render bokeh effect based on only one single frame without any additional data from other cameras or sensors. The target metric used in this challenge combined the runtime and the perceptual quality of the solutions measured in the user study. To ensure the efficiency of the submitted models, we measured their runtime on standard desktop CPUs as well as were running the models on smartphone GPUs. The proposed solutions significantly improved the baseline results, defining the state-of-the-art for practical bokeh effect rendering problem.