An Evaluation of Super-Resolution Algorithms for Real-Time High-Quality Video Streaming

Abstract

This study evaluates the viability of deep learningbased super-resolution (SR) for enhancing real-time video streaming. We compare a traditional HEVC-compressed streaming pipeline against an AI-assisted framework that transmits lowresolution video and reconstructs high-resolution output at the client using the Efficient Sub-Pixel Convolutional Neural Network (ESPCN) algorithm. The evaluation spans multiple resolutions (1080p to 4K), motion types, and processing methodologies (subprocess vs. frame-by-frame). Experimental results indicate that while AI-assisted streaming significantly reduces transmission bandwidth, it introduces substantial computational overhead, with completion times increasing by over 300% compared to traditional methods. Furthermore, quality assessments using PSNR and VMAF metrics reveal that most AI-assisted streams failed to meet the target quality range (30–50 dB PSNR), with high-resolution 4K streams experiencing up to 24.58% frame loss during real-time inference. These findings highlight critical performance barriers in utilizing current SR algorithms for standard consumer-grade real-time video delivery.