# NeuralRemaster: Phase-Preserving Diffusion for Structure-Aligned Generation

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.05106 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2512.05106/

## Key facts

- Cited by 5 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 42 of its 52 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 4 Dec 2025.

## Builds on (most cited first, 30 of 42)

- [Learning Transferable Visual Models From Natural Language Supervision](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.00020/) (2021)
- [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)
- [The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Deep Features as a Perceptual Metric](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1801.03924/) (2018)
- [Hierarchical Text-Conditional Image Generation with CLIP Latents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2204.06125/) (2022)
- [Photorealistic Text-to-Image Diffusion Models with Deep Language Understanding](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.11487/) (2022)
- [Adding Conditional Control to Text-to-Image Diffusion Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.05543/) (2023)
- [Flow Straight and Fast: Learning to Generate and Transfer Data with Rectified Flow](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2209.03003/) (2022)
- [Elucidating the Design Space of Diffusion-Based Generative Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2206.00364/) (2022)
- [Diffusion Policy: Visuomotor Policy Learning via Action Diffusion](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.04137/) (2023)
- [Wan: Open and Advanced Large-Scale Video Generative Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.20314/) (2025)
- [CARLA: An Open Urban Driving Simulator](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1711.03938/) (2017)
- [Video Diffusion Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2204.03458/) (2022)
- [DiffWave: A Versatile Diffusion Model for Audio Synthesis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2009.09761/) (2020)
- [T2I-Adapter: Learning Adapters to Dig out More Controllable Ability for Text-to-Image Diffusion Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.08453/) (2023)
- [Planning with Diffusion for Flexible Behavior Synthesis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.09991/) (2022)
- [eDiff-I: Text-to-Image Diffusion Models with an Ensemble of Expert Denoisers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2211.01324/) (2022)
- [Plug-and-Play Diffusion Features for Text-Driven Image-to-Image Translation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2211.12572/) (2022)
- [Diffusion Policies as an Expressive Policy Class for Offline Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2208.06193/) (2022)
- [VideoCrafter1: Open Diffusion Models for High-Quality Video Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.19512/) (2023)
- [Is Conditional Generative Modeling all you need for Decision-Making?](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2211.15657/) (2022)
- [Grad-TTS: A Diffusion Probabilistic Model for Text-to-Speech](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2105.06337/) (2021)
- [Uni-ControlNet: All-in-One Control to Text-to-Image Diffusion Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.16322/) (2023)
- [FreeDoM: Training-Free Energy-Guided Conditional Diffusion Model](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.09833/) (2023)
- [Generative Modelling With Inverse Heat Dissipation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2206.13397/) (2022)
- [ControlNeXt: Powerful and Efficient Control for Image and Video Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2408.06070/) (2024)
- [Learning a Diffusion Model Policy from Rewards via Q-Score Matching](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.11752/) (2023)
- [SE(3)-DiffusionFields: Learning smooth cost functions for joint grasp and motion optimization through diffusion](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2209.03855/) (2022)
- [Cosmos-Transfer1: Conditional World Generation with Adaptive Multimodal Control](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.14492/) (2025)
- [FreeControl: Training-Free Spatial Control of Any Text-to-Image Diffusion Model with Any Condition](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.07536/) (2023)

## Built on by (most cited first, 5 of 5)

- [Driving with DINO: Vision Foundation Features as a Unified Bridge for Sim-to-Real Generation in Autonomous Driving](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.06159/) (2026)
- [Optimal Transport Flow Matching by Design](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.04092/) (2026)
- [Phi-Noise: Training-Free Temporal Video Conditioning via Phase-Based Noise Manipulation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.24509/) (2026)
- [Controllable Histopathology Image Synthesis with Training-free Structural Initialization and Textural Modulation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.27935/) (2026)
- [Wavelet Phase Diffusion for Structurally and Semantically Consistent Sim-to-Real Translation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2607.21628/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Standard diffusion corrupts data using Gaussian noise whose Fourier coefficients have random magnitudes and random phases. While effective for unconditional or text-to-image generation, corrupting phase components destroys spatial structure, making it ill-suited for tasks requiring geometric consistency, such as re-rendering, simulation enhancement, and image-to-image translation. We introduce Phase-Preserving Diffusion (φ-PD), a model-agnostic reformulation of the diffusion process that preserves input phase while randomizing magnitude, enabling structure-aligned generation without architectural changes or additional parameters. We further propose Frequency-Selective Structured (FSS) noise, which provides continuous control over structural rigidity via a single frequency-cutoff parameter. φ-PD adds no inference-time cost and is compatible with any diffusion model for images or videos. Across photorealistic and stylized re-rendering, as well as sim-to-real enhancement for driving planners, φ-PD produces controllable, spatially aligned results. When applied to the CARLA simulator, φ-PD significantly improves sim-to-real planner transfer performance. The method is complementary to existing conditioning approaches and broadly applicable to image-to-image and video-to-video generation. Videos, additional examples, and code are available on our hrefhttps://yuzeng-at-tri.github.io/ppd-page/project page.