GPU-aided directional image/video interpolation for real time resolution upconversion

Image/video spatial resolution upconversion aims to obtain a high resolution output from the original low resolution input. Fast resolution upconversion is desired in many applications. In this paper, we develop a GPU-friendly two-pass directional image/video resolution upconversion algorithm and present a GPU implementation of the method, using the NVIDIA CUDA (Compute Unified Device Architecture) technology. Design considerations to speed up the execution are discussed, by taking full advantage of the properties of the CUDA framework and the upconversion scheme. Experimental results show that using a mid-range GPU card, the GPU-optimized resolution upconversion implementation can be more than five times as fast as the original method.