huggingworld_onnx-image-models

TIER 1: TOP PERFORMERS ⭐⭐⭐

1. 4x UltraSharp V2 FP32 (51.8MB) - The gold standard for general-purpose upscaling

   • Superior detail preservation across all content types
   • Excellent handling of both photos and artwork
   • Minimal artifacts, natural texture enhancement

2. 4x PurePhoto RealPLSKR (29.9MB) - Best for photographic content

   • Exceptional on portraits and realistic images
   • Advanced noise handling while preserving skin textures
   • Recommended by multiple 2026 benchmarks

3. 4x ClearReality V1 FP32 (1.7MB) - Best lightweight option

   • Surprisingly excellent quality for its tiny size
   • Fast processing with minimal resource usage
   • Great balance of quality vs. performance

TIER 2: EXCELLENT SPECIALISTS ⭐⭐

1. 4x Nomos8k DAT (89.9MB) - JPEG compression specialist

   • Specifically trained for compressed image restoration
   • Excellent on heavily compressed photos
   • Recommended for social media/web images

2. 4x PurePhoto SPAN (1.7MB) - Another excellent lightweight

   • Very similar quality to ClearReality
   • Great for mobile/edge deployment
   • Recommended for real-time applications

3. 4x LSDIR (67.2MB) - Large dataset trained

   • Good general performance across content types
   • Solid choice for batch processing

TIER 3: SOLID PERFORMERS ⭐

1. 4x UltraSharp FP32 (67MB) - Original UltraSharp

   • Still excellent but superseded by V2
   • Good for legacy compatibility

2. RealESR-General WDN x4v3 (4.9MB) - Compact and efficient

   • Recommended in multiple 2026 reviews
   • Good balance of speed and quality

3. 4x Nomos2 HQ DAT2 FP32 (52.9MB) - High-quality alternative

   • Similar performance to top tier but larger file size

TIER 4: SPECIALIZED/NICHE

1. 4x Upscayl UltraSharp (67.2MB) - Upscayl version

   • Good performance but redundant with standalone UltraSharp

2. 4x Upscayl High Fidelity (67.2MB) - Upscayl variant

   • Quality varies by source image

3. 2x Real-ESRGAN x2plus (67.2MB) - Only 2x scaling

   • Limited by scale factor but good quality

TIER 5: AVOID/OUTDATED

13-42. Most remaining models fall into these categories:

• Outdated architectures (original ESRGAN variants)
• Overly specialized (JPG restoration models for specific compression levels)
• Redundant (multiple similar Upscayl variants)
• Limited scale factors (1x models for restoration only)

KEY RECOMMENDATIONS:

For General Use: Start with 4x UltraSharp V2 FP32 - it consistently ranks #1 in 2026 benchmarks

For Mobile/Limited Resources: Use 4x ClearReality V1 FP32 or 4x PurePhoto SPAN - tiny files, excellent quality

For Compressed Images: 4x Nomos8k DAT handles JPEG artifacts better than anything else

For Photography: 4x PurePhoto RealPLSKR is specifically optimized for photos and portraits

The field has matured significantly, with newer architectures like DAT2 and RealPLKSR clearly outperforming older ESRGAN-based models. File size doesn't always correlate with quality - some of the best models are surprisingly compact.