# Self-DACE++: Robust Low-Light Enhancement via Efficient Adaptive Curve Estimation

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.25367 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.25367/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 16 of its 36 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 28 Apr 2026.

## Builds on (most cited first, 16 of 16)

- [Deep Retinex Decomposition for Low-Light Enhancement](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1808.04560/) (2018)
- [Zero-Reference Deep Curve Estimation for Low-Light Image Enhancement](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2001.06826/) (2020)
- [EnlightenGAN: Deep Light Enhancement without Paired Supervision](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1906.06972/) (2019)
- [Kindling the Darkness: A Practical Low-light Image Enhancer](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1905.04161/) (2019)
- [Retinex-inspired Unrolling with Cooperative Prior Architecture Search for Low-light Image Enhancement](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2012.05609/) (2020)
- [Learning to Enhance Low-Light Image via Zero-Reference Deep Curve Estimation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.00860/) (2021)
- [Ultra-High-Definition Low-Light Image Enhancement: A Benchmark and Transformer-Based Method](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2212.11548/) (2022)
- [Global Structure-Aware Diffusion Process for Low-Light Image Enhancement](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.17577/) (2023)
- [Low-Light Image Enhancement via Structure Modeling and Guidance](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.05839/) (2023)
- [Learning Semantic-Aware Knowledge Guidance for Low-Light Image Enhancement](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.07039/) (2023)
- [Semantically Contrastive Learning for Low-light Image Enhancement](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2112.06451/) (2021)
- [ReLLIE: Deep Reinforcement Learning for Customized Low-Light Image Enhancement](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2107.05830/) (2021)
- [Learning to Adapt to Light](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2202.08098/) (2022)
- [Implicit Multi-Spectral Transformer: An Lightweight and Effective Visible to Infrared Image Translation Model](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.07072/) (2024)
- [Self-Reference Deep Adaptive Curve Estimation for Low-Light Image Enhancement](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.08197/) (2023)
- [TS-Diff: Two-Stage Diffusion Model for Low-Light RAW Image Enhancement](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.04281/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

In this paper, we present Self-DACE++, an improved unsupervised and lightweight framework for Low-Light Image Enhancement (LLIE), building upon our previous Self-Reference Deep Adaptive Curve Estimation (Self-DACE). To better address the trade-off between computational efficiency and restoration quality, Self-DACE++ introduces enhanced Adaptive Adjustment Curves (AACs). These curves, governed by minimal trainable parameters, flexibly adjust the dynamic range while preserving the color fidelity, structural integrity, and naturalness of the enhanced images. To achieve an extremely lightweight architecture without sacrificing performance, we propose a randomized order training strategy coupled with a network fusion mechanism, which compresses the model into an efficient iterative inference structure. Furthermore, we formulate a physics-grounded objective function based on Retinex theory and incorporate a dedicated denoising module to effectively estimate and suppress latent noise in dark regions. Extensive qualitative and quantitative evaluations on multiple real-world benchmark datasets demonstrate that Self-DACE++ outperforms existing state-of-the-art methods, delivering superior enhancement quality with real-time inference capability. The code is available at https://github.com/John-Wendell/Self-DACE.