Real Time Super Resolution for 4K/8K

Seiichi Gohshi, professor at Kugakuin University, gave a talk on "Real Time Super Resolution for 4K/8K with Non-linear Signal Processing." He started his presentation with a question: What is Super Resolution? In general, people think about it as an image that has high enough resolution to extract a portion of a frame and retain clarity.  Although 4K TV sets are sold, 4K content is very rare; most of the content is HDTV. Does HDTV content become high-resolution on a 4K display? Many image enhancement technologies exist, but they emphasize the edges already in the original image.

He introduced a new super-resolution technology, Resolution+, which uses real-time hardware and  nonlinear signal processing to create naturally appearing thin edges that don't exist in the original image. He used the metaphor of creating a soprano sound from bass singers to make the point that you can't create a high-resolution image from a low-resolution image. "Our novel technology uses frequency elements exceeding even the Nyquist frequency in real time," said Gohshi. The new super-resolution solution has another use than up-converting existing content. "It can be used during production to solve the problem of defocusing," he said, showing some impressive "before" and "after" images. "The proposed method can create higher frequency elements that the original image does not have," he said. "It breaks the conventional theoretical limitation. The proposed method can create high resolution image with a single low resolution image."

Keisoku Giken held a demonstration of the technology on the SMPTE 2014 floor.