Upscaling Retro 8-Bit Pixel Art To Vector Graphics 325
An anonymous reader writes "Two researchers — Johannes Kopf from Microsoft, and Dani Lischinski from The Hebrew University — have successfully created an algorithm that depixelizes and upscales low-resolution 8-bit 'pixel art' into lush vector graphics. The algorithm identifies pixel-level details (original paper — PDF) to accurately shade the new image — but more importantly, the algorithm can create smooth, curved contour lines from only-connected-on-the-diagonal single pixels. At long last, we might be able to play Super Mario Bros. on a big screen without stretching our beloved plumber's pixels to breaking point. You really must look at the sample images." Scroll down in the paper to see how their technique stacks up against some others, including Adobe's Live Trace.
Re:PDF slashdotted (Score:2, Insightful)
Since I can't read the PDF either, I'm forced to infer from the dolphin picture that it's raining cheese and the dalai lama is coming over for lunch.
WTF original sketches? whose ass did you pull that from?
Impressive, interesting flaw with the keyboard pic (Score:5, Insightful)
EvilHom3r over on Reddit seems to have mirrored the paper (as images) here [imgur.com].
My verdict: Yeah, it looks all nice and smooth, but with all upscaling, it's basically interpolating data. The original just didn't have that much detail, so you can only get so much out of it. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
(Oh, and it makes all text look pretty bad. Kinda Comic Sans-y, if I can say that without invoking instant hate.)
I know what you mean but it's pretty impressive nonetheless. The flaw I found interesting was in the keyboard image. I'm sure the intention here is square keys, but their algorithm made all the keys round. Some things in a pixelated image should not be smoothed but without human context that's a very hard call to make.
Re:Yawn (Score:3, Insightful)
On the next CSI: 8-bit (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Great. (Score:3, Insightful)