Accelerating Image Super-Resolution Networks with Pixel-Level Classification

Single Image Super-Resolution (SISR) plays a vital role in various applications, driven by advancements in Deep Neural Networks (DNNs). However, increasing model complexity raises computational costs, necessitating efficient solutions. Existing patch-based approaches aiming at efficient SR encounter challenges in adapting to varying pixel difficulties and suffer from decreased efficiency with larger patches. To address these limitations, we propose Pixel-level Classifier for Single Image Super-Resolution (PCSR), a novel pixel-level distribution method for efficient SISR. Our approach optimizes computational resource allocation at the pixel level, achieving better efficiency compared to patch-based methods, and also provides user tunability without re-training and mitigates artifacts through post-processing techniques. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of PCSR across diverse SISR models and benchmarks, surpassing existing approaches in terms of the PSNR-FLOPs trade-off.