Astra vs Real-CUGAN

Astra has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.

Real-CUGAN is a free AI super-resolution model designed for anime images. It enlarges images by 2×, 3×, or 4× and offers denoising strengths, a conservative mode, and adjustable alpha. The 1× model is still in training. The English README describes five model weights for 2× and three each for 3× and 4×, covering different enhancement strengths. The Windows configuration processes both images and video, and the repository includes a video inference script. A linked NCNN implementation provides Windows, Linux, and macOS executables for Intel, AMD, Nvidia, and Apple-Silicon GPUs using Vulkan; its portable package includes binaries and models and states that it needs no CUDA or PyTorch runtime. Browser options include a demo and a Web-CPU version, though the README says the CPU demo is slow and recommends smaller images. Windows cache and tile settings can trade speed for lower GPU-memory use, including modes intended for very large images. The project also lists PyTorch and VapourSynth use paths and describes its architecture as compatible with Waifu2x-CUNet. The maker invites suggestions and requests through repository issues.