I’ve tried upscaling with ESRGAN as well and it has similar problems. It messes with the original textures too much. For example, it made carpet look like a solid surface. Skin looks too smooth and shiny. That kind of thing.
It depends a lot on the source picture, but it’s definitely not a general problem inherent to AI upscaling. Otherwise there wouldn’t be so many positive examples of ESRGAN.
I’ve tried upscaling with ESRGAN as well and it has similar problems. It messes with the original textures too much. For example, it made carpet look like a solid surface. Skin looks too smooth and shiny. That kind of thing.
It depends a lot on the source picture, but it’s definitely not a general problem inherent to AI upscaling. Otherwise there wouldn’t be so many positive examples of ESRGAN.