# StarSRGAN: Improving Real-World Blind Super-Resolution

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2307.16169 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.16169/

## Key facts

- Cited by 2 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 23 of its 28 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 30 Jul 2023.

## Builds on (most cited first, 23 of 23)

- [Deep Residual Learning for Image Recognition](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1512.03385/) (2015)
- [Very Deep Convolutional Networks for Large-Scale Image Recognition](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1409.1556/) (2014)
- [Generative Adversarial Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2203.00667/) (2022)
- [Perceptual Losses for Real-Time Style Transfer and Super-Resolution](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1603.08155/) (2016)
- [Photo-Realistic Single Image Super-Resolution Using a Generative Adversarial Network](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1609.04802/) (2016)
- [Spectral Normalization for Generative Adversarial Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1802.05957/) (2018)
- [Attention U-Net: Learning Where to Look for the Pancreas](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1804.03999/) (2018)
- [ESRGAN: Enhanced Super-Resolution Generative Adversarial Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1809.00219/) (2018)
- [Image Super-Resolution Using Deep Convolutional Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1501.00092/) (2014)
- [Real-Time Single Image and Video Super-Resolution Using an Efficient Sub-Pixel Convolutional Neural Network](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1609.05158/) (2016)
- [High-Resolution Image Synthesis and Semantic Manipulation with Conditional GANs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1711.11585/) (2017)
- [Real-ESRGAN: Training Real-World Blind Super-Resolution with Pure Synthetic Data](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2107.10833/) (2021)
- [MANIQA: Multi-dimension Attention Network for No-Reference Image Quality Assessment](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2204.08958/) (2022)
- [A U-Net Based Discriminator for Generative Adversarial Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2002.12655/) (2020)
- [Real-World Blind Super-Resolution via Feature Matching with Implicit High-Resolution Priors](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2202.13142/) (2022)
- [Efficient and Degradation-Adaptive Network for Real-World Image Super-Resolution](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2203.14216/) (2022)
- [Swin2SR: SwinV2 Transformer for Compressed Image Super-Resolution and Restoration](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2209.11345/) (2022)
- [Attentions Help CNNs See Better: Attention-based Hybrid Image Quality Assessment Network](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2204.10485/) (2022)
- [Reflash Dropout in Image Super-Resolution](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2112.12089/) (2021)
- [NTIRE 2022 Challenge on Perceptual Image Quality Assessment](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2206.11695/) (2022)
- [ESRGAN+ : Further Improving Enhanced Super-Resolution Generative Adversarial Network](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2001.08073/) (2020)
- [A-ESRGAN: Training Real-World Blind Super-Resolution with Attention U-Net Discriminators](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2112.10046/) (2021)
- [Dual Perceptual Loss for Single Image Super-Resolution Using ESRGAN](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2201.06383/) (2022)

## Built on by (most cited first, 2 of 2)

- [Using Super-Resolution Imaging for Recognition of Low-Resolution Blurred License Plates: A Comparative Study of Real-ESRGAN, A-ESRGAN, and StarSRGAN](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.15466/) (2024)
- [IG-CFAT: An Improved GAN-Based Framework for Effectively Exploiting Transformers in Real-World Image Super-Resolution](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.13815/) (2024)

## Abstract (arXiv)

The aim of blind super-resolution (SR) in computer vision is to improve the resolution of an image without prior knowledge of the degradation process that caused the image to be low-resolution. The State of the Art (SOTA) model Real-ESRGAN has advanced perceptual loss and produced visually compelling outcomes using more complex degradation models to simulate real-world degradations. However, there is still room to improve the super-resolved quality of Real-ESRGAN by implementing recent techniques. This research paper introduces StarSRGAN, a novel GAN model designed for blind super-resolution tasks that utilize 5 various architectures. Our model provides new SOTA performance with roughly 10% better on the MANIQA and AHIQ measures, as demonstrated by experimental comparisons with Real-ESRGAN. In addition, as a compact version, StarSRGAN Lite provides approximately 7.5 times faster reconstruction speed (real-time upsampling from 540p to 4K) but can still keep nearly 90% of image quality, thereby facilitating the development of a real-time SR experience for future research. Our codes are released at https://github.com/kynthesis/StarSRGAN.