JPEG Artifact Correction using Denoising Diffusion Restoration Models

Bahjat Kawar, Jiaming Song, Stefano Ermon, Michael Elad

Keywords: jpeg, deblocking, diffusion models, image restoration, inverse problem, artifact correction, dequantization

TL;DR: We expand denoising diffusion restoration models for JPEG artifact correction, obtaining near state-of-the-art performance.

Abstract: Diffusion models can be used as learned priors for solving various inverse problems. However, most existing approaches are restricted to linear inverse problems, limiting their applicability to more general cases. In this paper, we build upon Denoising Diffusion Restoration Models (DDRM) and propose a method for solving some non-linear inverse problems. We leverage the pseudo-inverse operator used in DDRM and generalize this concept for other measurement operators, which allows us to use pre-trained unconditional diffusion models for applications such as JPEG artifact correction. We empirically demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach across various quality factors, attaining performance levels that are on par with state-of-the-art methods trained specifically for the JPEG restoration task.

Student Paper: Yes

Community Implementations: [ 2 code implementations](https://www.catalyzex.com/paper/jpeg-artifact-correction-using-denoising/code)