deliver sharper low res image
Google brings machine learning to deliver sharper low res images
Slipping under the radar late last year was the potentially groundbreaking news that Google has come-up with a very clever way to deliver higher-quality versions of low resolution images. The technology is called RAISR (an abbreviation of Rapid and Accurate Image Super-Resolution since you ask) and it uses machine learning to produce what Google believes to be comparable or better results than other current super-resolution methods, while being between 10-100 faster at rendering as well. Whereas upsampling demands a larger file size with more pixels to attempt to get a higher quality image from a low-res file, it can still be quite ineffective at improving detail. RAISR works differently, using machine learning to train on pairs of images - one low quality, one high. It then finds filters that when selectively applied to each pixel of the low-res image, manages to deliver results that Google reckons is comparable in quality to the original higher-res image.