1080p original vs super resolution:
http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/118497
Precise bicubic (A = -0.75) vs super resolution:
http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/118500
1080p original vs precise bicubic (A = -0.75)
Here is a test of the super resolution upscaling on the 2011 Star Wars blu ray. The original sample is 1080p and has been resized to 540p at 8000kps. Subsequently the lower resolution sample has been upscaled to 1080p with the super resolution algorithm.
Update: there is an audio synching problem with the video files. I will fix them and put them back up.
Below are some screenshot comparisions between the original 1080p, the super resolution upscale, and the precise bicubic upscale.
Here is a sample of the PAL GOUT upscale SR-v2.
Update: Clips removed to make space for new clips.
Today I will also start upscaling the NTSC version of the GOUT. As You_too said, it apparently has more detail than the PAL version, and it's therefore better upscaling material. It will also provide for a fair comparison with Team Blu's impressive results.
Of course, if you can send me a clip I'll run it through the algorithm.
For those interested in finding out why multi-frame super resolution is possible, the first chapter of this phd thesis provides some explanations:
http://www.robots.ox.ac.uk/~vgg/publications/papers/pickup08.pdf
@dickalan when I click on your link it just goes to collider.com
I will post a few clips of the super resolution v2 soon.
I'm in the process of downscaling a clip from the Star Wars blu ray, such that we can compare the upscaling results objectively by calculating PSNR's for individual frames. I will post the original HD, the downscaled, and upscaled clips here.
By going to RGB mode of the super resolution software (which is slower, but more precise) you get rid of the edge artifacts, as can be seen in the following comparison:
http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/118312
You also get slightly more detail:
The basic concept for super resolution used for fluorescence microscopy and digital sensors is the same, namely combining multiple low resolution images to obtain a high resolution image. In the first case it is called optical super resolution. In the second case it is called geometrical super resolution. Since a video is nothing more than a sequence of very similar images, the concept has been successfully applied to video as well, for example in forensics. Wikipedia actually explains both pretty well:
I think one 2014 Nobel prize winner would disagree:
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/2014/advanced-chemistryprize2014.pdf
The BasiClean+MagicUp has less grain, but also considerably less detail, visible in Obi-Wan's beard and Luke's hair, but especially in the string in the left corner of the frame on Obi-Wan's hood.
Another comparison (two video samples) between precise bicubic (A = -0.75) and the super resolution.
Update: Clips removed to make space for new clips.
Two more comparisons for precise bicubic (A = -0.75) vs super resolution. In this case both sources are uncompressed. In both cases details are more clear in the super resolution version. The grain also seems to be somewhat more visible though, and a number of edge artifacts are clearly visible in the second screenshot, which is of course very undesirable.
Original GOUT vs super resolution
I added a fair comparison: precise bicubic (A = -0.75) vs super resolution
The differences are subtle, but you can see more detail in the eyes, eye lashes, hair in the super resolution one. You could try sharpening the bicubic, but this would also increase the grain/noise.
I will convert a scene from the 2004 dvds to compare with the 2011 blurays.
Which software do you use to get the individual frames? The raw video is a bit too large to put on google drive.
...and a first sample for The Empire Strikes Back:
Standard definition:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8_LYKyZDiajY194Wm9wblFPSFE/view?usp=sharing
Upscaled:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8_LYKyZDiajeFA0VkZuaENiY1U/view?usp=sharing
Here's another sample:
Update: Clips removed to make space for new clips.
I will try to put it up asap. But what's wrong with frame 100? I can't see it.
For the full quality I suggest downloading the videos.
Although I understand most of your points, I have to disagree with the idea that smart upscaling super resolution does not work. As a scientist I like to stick to the scientific evidence, and the developers of this super resolution algorithm have pretty convincing numbers on their site that prove that their algorithm is superior to many other methods described in scientific literature:
http://www.infognition.com/articles/video_resize_shootout.html
While I agree that the Despecialized Edition of Star Wars is amazing, especially v2.5, the quality difference in some of the elements in TESB and ROTJ is quite noticable. I'm sure Harmy is working on bringing those up to the quality of SW, but these despecialized films are many years in the making. By the time he is finished we may actually have seen the official bluray release of the originals. In the mean time I'm simply interested in what these super resolution algorithms can do. They keep getting better, and better so who knows we may be able to squeeze some more details from the GOUT.
I'm aware of the great work done by others to improve the GOUT in many ways, but personally, although I'm no fan of film grain, I prefer the grain over less detail. So out of personal interest I will continue to check out these algorithms, and anyone who's interested can follow my progress...
Sorry, the link has been replaced.