ProRes: Exploring Degradation-aware Visual Prompt for Universal Image Restoration

Original Paper: https://arxiv.org/abs/2306.13653

By: Jiaqi Ma, Tianheng Cheng, Guoli Wang, Qian Zhang, Xinggang Wang, Lefei Zhang

Abstract:

Image restoration aims to reconstruct degraded images, e.g., denoising or deblurring. Existing works focus on designing task-specific methods and there are inadequate attempts at universal methods. However, simply unifying multiple tasks into one universal architecture suffers from uncontrollable and undesired predictions. To address those issues, we explore prompt learning in universal architectures for image restoration tasks. In this paper, we present Degradation-aware Visual Prompts, which encode various types of image degradation, e.g., noise and blur, into unified visual prompts. These degradation-aware prompts provide control over image processing and allow weighted combinations for customized image restoration. We then leverage degradation-aware visual prompts to establish a controllable and universal model for image restoration, called ProRes, which is applicable to an extensive range of image restoration tasks. ProRes leverages the vanilla Vision Transformer (ViT) without any task-specific designs. Furthermore, the pre-trained ProRes can easily adapt to new tasks through efficient prompt tuning with only a few images. Without bells and whistles, ProRes achieves competitive performance compared to task-specific methods and experiments can demonstrate its ability for controllable restoration and adaptation for new tasks. The code and models will be released in \url{

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Summary Notes

Understanding ProRes - A New Era in Image Restoration

Image restoration plays a pivotal role across various sectors, including medical imaging and satellite imagery.

The field has long sought after a solution that is both versatile and efficient, a goal that traditional, task-specific methods have struggled to fully achieve due to their lack of adaptability.

Enter ProRes, a revolutionary framework designed to transform image restoration by introducing degradation-aware visual prompts.

This innovation promises a universal, adaptable model that simplifies the transition to new tasks and datasets.

Background: The Evolution of Image Restoration

To appreciate ProRes's significance, it's important to look at previous approaches:

• Multi-Task Learning: Earlier methods attempted to create versatile models but often faced task interference, which hindered performance.
• Universal Foundation Models: The success of models like the Vision Transformer (ViT) in other fields hinted at the potential for similar advancements in image restoration.
• Visual Prompt Learning: While promising in other visual tasks, the application of visual prompt learning in image restoration remained largely unexplored until now.

How ProRes Works

ProRes introduces a simple yet effective approach to image restoration, characterized by:

• Degradation-aware Visual Prompts: ProRes uses special image-like prompts that signal to the model how an image needs to be restored, making it degradation-aware.
• Simplified Architecture: By combining a Vision Transformer with a pixel decoder, ProRes focuses on wide applicability rather than just peak performance.
• Efficient Training Loss: Employing simple regression losses like Smooth-L1, ProRes streamlines the training process, avoiding complex loss functions.
• Prompt Tuning for Adaptation: A key feature of ProRes is its flexibility. Adjusting visual prompts allows the model to tackle new tasks with minimal retraining.

ProRes in Action: Results and Insights

ProRes has undergone extensive testing to validate its effectiveness:

• Datasets: It was evaluated across various datasets, including SIDD for denoising and LoL for low-light enhancement.
• Training Details: ProRes efficiently adapts to tasks through prompt tuning, leveraging pre-trained ViT models.
• Performance: ProRes competes well with task-specific models, demonstrating excellent adaptability and control across different scenarios.

The Impact of ProRes

ProRes represents a major breakthrough in image restoration.

It introduces a model that is not only flexible and efficient but also easily adaptable, paving the way for practical applications beyond the limitations of task-specific methods.

This framework sets a new standard for future research, pushing the field towards more versatile solutions.

Looking Ahead

The possibilities for ProRes are vast. Future research could explore larger datasets and refine the framework further, enhancing its capabilities.

As the field of image restoration evolves, ProRes stands out as a beacon of innovation, leading the charge towards more adaptable and efficient solutions.

In summary, ProRes is more than just an advancement in image restoration; it's a paradigm shift towards universal models that effortlessly adjust to various tasks, marking the beginning of a new era in the field. Its contributions lay the groundwork for achieving adaptability and efficiency in image restoration on a scale previously thought unattainable.