# Towards Efficient SDRTV-to-HDRTV by Learning from Image Formation

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2309.04084 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.04084/

## Key facts

- Cited by 4 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 25 of its 59 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 8 Sep 2023.

## Builds on (most cited first, 25 of 25)

- [Image-to-Image Translation with Conditional Adversarial Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1611.07004/) (2016)
- [Perceptual Losses for Real-Time Style Transfer and Super-Resolution](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1603.08155/) (2016)
- [Identity Mappings in Deep Residual Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1603.05027/) (2016)
- [Photo-Realistic Single Image Super-Resolution Using a Generative Adversarial Network](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1609.04802/) (2016)
- [Real-Time Single Image and Video Super-Resolution Using an Efficient Sub-Pixel Convolutional Neural Network](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1609.05158/) (2016)
- [Real-ESRGAN: Training Real-World Blind Super-Resolution with Pure Synthetic Data](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2107.10833/) (2021)
- [The Perception-Distortion Tradeoff](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1711.06077/) (2017)
- [Recovering Realistic Texture in Image Super-resolution by Deep Spatial Feature Transform](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1804.02815/) (2018)
- [A Learned Representation For Artistic Style](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1610.07629/) (2016)
- [The relativistic discriminator: a key element missing from standard GAN](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1807.00734/) (2018)
- [Deep Bilateral Learning for Real-Time Image Enhancement](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1707.02880/) (2017)
- [HDR image reconstruction from a single exposure using deep CNNs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1710.07480/) (2017)
- [Learning Image-adaptive 3D Lookup Tables for High Performance Photo Enhancement in Real-time](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2009.14468/) (2020)
- [Single-Image HDR Reconstruction by Learning to Reverse the Camera Pipeline](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2004.01179/) (2020)
- [Attention-guided Network for Ghost-free High Dynamic Range Imaging](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1904.10293/) (2019)
- [Conditional Sequential Modulation for Efficient Global Image Retouching](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2009.10390/) (2020)
- [HDRUNet: Single Image HDR Reconstruction with Denoising and Dequantization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2105.13084/) (2021)
- [Deep SR-ITM: Joint Learning of Super-Resolution and Inverse Tone-Mapping for 4K UHD HDR Applications](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1904.11176/) (2019)
- [JSI-GAN: GAN-Based Joint Super-Resolution and Inverse Tone-Mapping with Pixel-Wise Task-Specific Filters for UHD HDR Video](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1909.04391/) (2019)
- [A New Journey from SDRTV to HDRTV](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2108.07978/) (2021)
- [Very Lightweight Photo Retouching Network with Conditional Sequential Modulation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2104.06279/) (2021)
- [SDRTV-to-HDRTV via Hierarchical Dynamic Context Feature Mapping](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2207.00319/) (2022)
- [Learning a Practical SDR-to-HDRTV Up-conversion using New Dataset and Degradation Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.13031/) (2023)
- [NTIRE 2022 Challenge on High Dynamic Range Imaging: Methods and Results](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.12633/) (2022)
- [Towards Real World HDRTV Reconstruction: A Data Synthesis-based Approach](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2211.03058/) (2022)

## Built on by (most cited first, 4 of 4)

- [HDR Video Generation via Latent Alignment with Logarithmic Encoding](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.11788/) (2026)
- [Redistributing the Precision and Content in 3D-LUT-based Inverse Tone-mapping for HDR/WCG Display](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.17160/) (2023)
- [Wavelet-Domain Masked Image Modeling for Color-Consistent HDR Video Reconstruction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.07393/) (2026)
- [Bio-SFT: Asymmetric Cortical Guidance and Retinal Adaptation for Robust HDR Reconstruction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2607.17456/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Modern displays can render video content with high dynamic range (HDR) and wide color gamut (WCG). However, most resources are still in standard dynamic range (SDR). Therefore, transforming existing SDR content into the HDRTV standard holds significant value. This paper defines and analyzes the SDRTV-to-HDRTV task by modeling the formation of SDRTV/HDRTV content. Our findings reveal that a naive endto-end supervised training approach suffers from severe gamut transition errors. To address this, we propose a new three-step solution called HDRTVNet++, which includes adaptive global color mapping, local enhancement, and highlight refinement. The adaptive global color mapping step utilizes global statistics for image-adaptive color adjustments. A local enhancement network further enhances details, and the two sub-networks are combined as a generator to achieve highlight consistency through GANbased joint training. Designed for ultra-high-definition TV content, our method is both effective and lightweight for processing 4K resolution images. We also constructed a dataset using HDR videos in the HDR10 standard, named HDRTV1K, containing 1235 training and 117 testing images, all in 4K resolution. Additionally, we employ five metrics to evaluate SDRTV-to-HDRTV performance. Our results demonstrate state-of-the-art performance both quantitatively and visually. The codes and models are available at https://github.com/xiaom233/HDRTVNet-plus.