# TD-BFR: Truncated Diffusion Model for Efficient Blind Face Restoration

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.20537 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.20537/

## Key facts

- Cited by 4 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Placed in Inverse problems and image restoration, one of 14 directions in Diffusion models.
- Builds on 19 of its 21 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 26 Mar 2025.

## Placed in

- Diffusion models / [Inverse problems and image restoration](https://mlsanity.com/diffusion/inverse-problems-and-image-restoration/)

## Builds on (most cited first, 19 of 19)

- [Denoising Diffusion Probabilistic Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2006.11239/) (2020)
- [High-Resolution Image Synthesis with Latent Diffusion Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2112.10752/) (2021)
- [A Style-Based Generator Architecture for Generative Adversarial Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1812.04948/) (2018)
- [Deep Learning Face Attributes in the Wild](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1411.7766/) (2014)
- [InstructPix2Pix: Learning to Follow Image Editing Instructions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2211.09800/) (2022)
- [ILVR: Conditioning Method for Denoising Diffusion Probabilistic Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2108.02938/) (2021)
- [Exploiting Diffusion Prior for Real-World Image Super-Resolution](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.07015/) (2023)
- [Towards Real-World Blind Face Restoration with Generative Facial Prior](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2101.04061/) (2021)
- [WIDER FACE: A Face Detection Benchmark](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1511.06523/) (2015)
- [Pixel-Aware Stable Diffusion for Realistic Image Super-resolution and Personalized Stylization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.14469/) (2023)
- [Towards Robust Blind Face Restoration with Codebook Lookup Transformer](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2206.11253/) (2022)
- [GAN Prior Embedded Network for Blind Face Restoration in the Wild](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2105.06070/) (2021)
- [VQFR: Blind Face Restoration with Vector-Quantized Dictionary and Parallel Decoder](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.06803/) (2022)
- [DifFace: Blind Face Restoration with Diffused Error Contraction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2212.06512/) (2022)
- [DR2: Diffusion-based Robust Degradation Remover for Blind Face Restoration](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.06885/) (2023)
- [Relay Diffusion: Unifying diffusion process across resolutions for image synthesis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.03350/) (2023)
- [Learning Spatial Attention for Face Super-Resolution](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2012.01211/) (2020)
- [Truncated Diffusion Probabilistic Models and Diffusion-based Adversarial Auto-Encoders](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2202.09671/) (2022)
- [RestoreFormer++: Towards Real-World Blind Face Restoration from Undegraded Key-Value Pairs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.07228/) (2023)

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

- [DiffusionReward: Enhancing Blind Face Restoration through Reward Feedback Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.17910/) (2025)
- [TEASR: Training-Efficient Any-Step Diffusion Transformer for Real-World Image Super-Resolution](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.16188/) (2026)
- [A2BFR: Attribute-Aware Blind Face Restoration](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.29423/) (2026)
- [DTI: Dynamic Trajectory Initialization for Generative Face Video Super-Resolution](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.29198/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Diffusion-based methodologies have shown significant potential in blind face restoration (BFR), leveraging their robust generative capabilities. However, they are often criticized for two significant problems: 1) slow training and inference speed, and 2) inadequate recovery of fine-grained facial details. To address these problems, we propose a novel Truncated Diffusion model for efficient Blind Face Restoration (TD-BFR), a three-stage paradigm tailored for the progressive resolution of degraded images. Specifically, TD-BFR utilizes an innovative truncated sampling method, starting from low-quality (LQ) images at low resolution to enhance sampling speed, and then introduces an adaptive degradation removal module to handle unknown degradations and connect the generation processes across different resolutions. Additionally, we further adapt the priors of pre-trained diffusion models to recover rich facial details. Our method efficiently restores high-quality images in a coarse-to-fine manner and experimental results demonstrate that TD-BFR is, on average, 4.75× faster than current state-of-the-art diffusion-based BFR methods while maintaining competitive quality.