# LapLoss: Laplacian Pyramid-based Multiscale loss for Image Translation

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.05974 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.05974/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 29 of its 60 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 7 Mar 2025.

## Builds on (most cited first, 29 of 29)

- [Denoising Diffusion Probabilistic Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2006.11239/) (2020)
- [Image-to-Image Translation with Conditional Adversarial Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1611.07004/) (2016)
- [Arbitrary Style Transfer in Real-time with Adaptive Instance Normalization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1703.06868/) (2017)
- [Instance Normalization: The Missing Ingredient for Fast Stylization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1607.08022/) (2016)
- [High-Resolution Image Synthesis and Semantic Manipulation with Conditional GANs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1711.11585/) (2017)
- [Least Squares Generative Adversarial Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1611.04076/) (2016)
- [Deep Retinex Decomposition for Low-Light Enhancement](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1808.04560/) (2018)
- [Unsupervised Image-to-Image Translation Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1703.00848/) (2017)
- [Zero-Reference Deep Curve Estimation for Low-Light Image Enhancement](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2001.06826/) (2020)
- [Deep Laplacian Pyramid Networks for Fast and Accurate Super-Resolution](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1704.03915/) (2017)
- [Kindling the Darkness: A Practical Low-light Image Enhancer](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1905.04161/) (2019)
- [Geometric GAN](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1705.02894/) (2017)
- [Deep Generative Image Models using a Laplacian Pyramid of Adversarial Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1506.05751/) (2015)
- [StyleGAN-T: Unlocking the Power of GANs for Fast Large-Scale Text-to-Image Synthesis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2301.09515/) (2023)
- [Learning to Enhance Low-Light Image via Zero-Reference Deep Curve Estimation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.00860/) (2021)
- [SOAP: Improving and Stabilizing Shampoo using Adam](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.11321/) (2024)
- [Low-Light Image Enhancement with Normalizing Flow](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2109.05923/) (2021)
- [Diff-Retinex: Rethinking Low-light Image Enhancement with A Generative Diffusion Model](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.13164/) (2023)
- [You Only Need 90K Parameters to Adapt Light: A Light Weight Transformer for Image Enhancement and Exposure Correction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.14871/) (2022)
- [Pyramid Diffusion Models For Low-light Image Enhancement](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.10028/) (2023)
- [GANs for Medical Image Synthesis: An Empirical Study](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2105.05318/) (2021)
- [Low-light Image Enhancement via Breaking Down the Darkness](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2111.15557/) (2021)
- [High-Resolution Photorealistic Image Translation in Real-Time: A Laplacian Pyramid Translation Network](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2105.09188/) (2021)
- [Semantic-Guided Zero-Shot Learning for Low-Light Image/Video Enhancement](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2110.00970/) (2021)
- [Progressive Retinex: Mutually Reinforced Illumination-Noise Perception Network for Low Light Image Enhancement](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1911.11323/) (2019)
- [Combating Mode Collapse in GAN training: An Empirical Analysis using Hessian Eigenvalues](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2012.09673/) (2020)
- [Subsampling Generative Adversarial Networks: Density Ratio Estimation in Feature Space with Softplus Loss](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1909.10670/) (2019)
- [Image-to-Image Translation for Autonomous Driving from Coarsely-Aligned Image Pairs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2209.11673/) (2022)
- [HipyrNet: Hypernet-Guided Feature Pyramid network for mixed-exposure correction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2501.05195/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Contrast enhancement, a key aspect of image-to-image translation (I2IT), improves visual quality by adjusting intensity differences between pixels. However, many existing methods struggle to preserve fine-grained details, often leading to the loss of low-level features. This paper introduces LapLoss, a novel approach designed for I2IT contrast enhancement, based on the Laplacian pyramid-centric networks, forming the core of our proposed methodology. The proposed approach employs a multiple discriminator architecture, each operating at a different resolution to capture high-level features, in addition to maintaining low-level details and textures under mixed lighting conditions. The proposed methodology computes the loss at multiple scales, balancing reconstruction accuracy and perceptual quality to enhance overall image generation. The distinct blend of the loss calculation at each level of the pyramid, combined with the architecture of the Laplacian pyramid enables LapLoss to exceed contemporary contrast enhancement techniques. This framework achieves state-of-the-art results, consistently performing well across different lighting conditions in the SICE dataset.