mssim.pytorch

July 8, 2026 · View on GitHub

SSIM:

l(x,y)=2μxμy+C1μx2+μy2+C1,C1=(K1L)2,K1=0.01,c(x,y)=2σxσy+C2σx2+σy2+C2,C2=(K2L)2,K2=0.03,s(x,y)=σxy+C3σxσy+C3,C3=C2/2,SSIM(x,y)=[l(x,y)]α[c(x,y)]β[s(x,y)]γ=(2μxμy+C1)(2σxy+C2)(μx2+μy2+C1)(σx2+σy2+C2)α=β=γ=1.\begin{align} l(\mathbf{x}, \mathbf{y}) & = \frac{2\mu_x\mu_y+C_1}{\mu_x^2+\mu_y^2+C_1}, \quad C_1=(K_1L)^2, K_1=0.01, \\ c(\mathbf{x}, \mathbf{y}) & = \frac{2\sigma_{x}\sigma_{y}+C_2}{\sigma_x^2+\sigma_y^2+C_2}, \quad C_2=(K_2L)^2, K_2=0.03, \\ s(\mathbf{x}, \mathbf{y}) & = \frac{\sigma_{xy}+C_3}{\sigma_x\sigma_y+C_3}, \quad C_3=C_2/2, \\ \text{SSIM}(\mathbf{x}, \mathbf{y}) & = [l(\mathbf{x}, \mathbf{y})]^\alpha \cdot [c(\mathbf{x}, \mathbf{y})]^\beta \cdot [s(\mathbf{x}, \mathbf{y})]^\gamma \\ & = \frac{(2\mu_x\mu_y+C_1)(2\sigma_{xy}+C_2)}{(\mu_x^2+\mu_y^2+C_1)(\sigma_x^2+\sigma_y^2+C_2)} \\ & \alpha=\beta=\gamma=1. \end{align}

Multi Scale SSIM:

MS-SSIM(x,y)=[l(x,y)]αMj=1M[cj(x,y)]βj[sj(x,y)]γj,(M=5)β1=γ1=0.0448,β2=γ2=0.2856,β3=γ3=0.3001,β4=γ4=0.2363,α5=β5=γ5=0.1333.\begin{align} \text{MS-SSIM}(\mathbf{x}, \mathbf{y}) & = [l(\mathbf{x}, \mathbf{y})]^{\alpha_{M}} \cdot \prod^{M}_{j=1} [c_j(\mathbf{x}, \mathbf{y})]^{\beta_j} \cdot [s_j(\mathbf{x}, \mathbf{y})]^{\gamma_j}, \\ (M=5) \Rightarrow & \beta_1=\gamma_1=0.0448, \\ & \beta_2=\gamma_2=0.2856, \\ & \beta_3=\gamma_3=0.3001, \\ & \beta_4=\gamma_4=0.2363, \\ & \alpha_5=\beta_5=\gamma_5=0.1333. \end{align}

Weighted/ROI SSIM:

WeightedSSIMw(x,y)=iwiSSIMi(x,y)iwi.\begin{align} \text{WeightedSSIM}_{\mathbf{w}}(\mathbf{x}, \mathbf{y}) & = \frac{\sum_i w_i\text{SSIM}_i(\mathbf{x}, \mathbf{y})}{\sum_i w_i}. \end{align}

Gradient-based SSIM:

hx=(xhx)2+(xhy)2,GradientSSIM(x,y)=SSIM(hx,hy).\begin{align} \nabla_h\mathbf{x} & = \sqrt{(\mathbf{x}*h_x)^2+(\mathbf{x}*h_y)^2}, \\ \text{GradientSSIM}(\mathbf{x}, \mathbf{y}) & = \text{SSIM}(\nabla_h\mathbf{x}, \nabla_h\mathbf{y}). \end{align}

Three-Component Structural Similarity (3-SSIM):

ThreeSSIM(x,y)=r{edge,texture,smooth}λrimriSSIMi(x,y)imri,λedge=0.5,λtexture=0.25,λsmooth=0.25.\begin{align} \text{ThreeSSIM}(\mathbf{x}, \mathbf{y}) & = \sum_{r\in \{\text{edge}, \text{texture}, \text{smooth}\} }\lambda_r\frac{\sum_i m_{ri}\text{SSIM}_i(\mathbf{x}, \mathbf{y})}{\sum_i m_{ri}}, \\ & \lambda_\text{edge}=0.5, \quad \lambda_\text{texture}=0.25, \quad \lambda_\text{smooth}=0.25. \end{align}

A better pytorch-based implementation for the mean structural similarity (MSSIM).

Compared to this widely used implementation: https://github.com/Po-Hsun-Su/pytorch-ssim, I further optimized and refactored the code.

At the same time, in this implementation, I have dealt with the problem that the calculation with the fp16 mode cannot be consistent with the calculation with the fp32 mode. Typecasting is used here to ensure that the computation is done in fp32 mode. This might also avoid unexpected results when using it as a loss.

Note

2024-12-04: SSIM for 1D, 2D and 3D data, and MS-SSIM calculation for 2D and 3D data are now supported simultaneously. 2026-07-08: Weighted/ROI SSIM, Gradient-based SSIM, and Three-Component SSIM are now supported through the same composable SSIM core.

SettingSSIM1dSSIM2dSSIM3dMS-SSIM2dMS-SSIM3d (only pooling in the spatial domain)WeightedSSIMGradientSSIMThreeSSIM
data_dim12 (Default)3231, 2 (Default), 322
forward return_msssimFalseFalseFalseTrueTrueFalseFalseFalse
window_sizeint, [int]int, [int, int]int, [int, int, int]int, [int, int]int, [int, int, int]int, [int] by data_dimint, [int, int]int, [int, int]
paddingint, [int]int, [int, int]int, [int, int, int]int, [int, int]int, [int, int, int]int, [int] by data_dimint, [int, int]int, [int, int]
sigmafloat, [float]float, [float, float]float, [float, float, float]float, [float, float]float, [float, float, float]float, [float] by data_dimfloat, [float, float]float, [float, float]
in_channelsintintintintintintintint
L1, 2551, 2551, 2551, 2551, 2551, 2551, 2551, 255
reduction
return_log
ensemble_kernel
weightsoptionaloptionaloptionalrequiredauto region masks
epsoptional for weightsoptional for weightsoptional for weights

Current API

The SSIM family now uses a composable internal pipeline: preprocess -> SSIMCore -> reducer.

  • Standard SSIM uses IdentityPreprocess and SSIMMapReducer;
  • GradientSSIM swaps in GradientSSIMPreprocess;
  • ThreeSSIM swaps in ThreeSSIMReducer.

This keeps the local SSIM map computation shared and makes new variants additive instead of duplicating the whole metric.

from ssim import (
    SSIM,
    MSSSIM,
    WeightedSSIM,
    GradientSSIM,
    ThreeSSIM,
    ssim,
    ms_ssim,
    weighted_ssim,
    gradient_ssim,
    three_ssim,
)
GroupFunctional APIModule API
SSIM / Multi-Scale SSIMssim, ms_ssimSSIM, MSSSIM
Weighted/ROI SSIMssim(..., weights=...), weighted_ssimSSIM(...)(x, y, weights=...), WeightedSSIM
Gradient-based SSIMgradient_ssimGradientSSIM
Three-Component Structural Similarity (3-SSIM)three_ssimThreeSSIM
score = SSIM(reduction="batch")(x, y)
ms_score = SSIM(reduction="batch")(x, y, return_msssim=True)
weighted_score = weighted_ssim(x, y, weights, window_size=5, L=1, reduction="batch")
gradient_score = GradientSSIM(window_size=5, L=1, reduction="batch")(x, y)
three_score = ThreeSSIM(window_size=5, L=1, reduction="batch", variance_window_size=5)(x, y)

Structural similarity index

When comparing images, the mean squared error (MSE)–while simple to implement–is not highly indicative of perceived similarity. Structural similarity aims to address this shortcoming by taking texture into account. More details can be seen at https://scikit-image.org/docs/dev/auto_examples/transform/plot_ssim.html?highlight=structure+similarity

results

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np
import torch
import torch.nn.functional as F
from lartpang_ssim import SSIM
from po_hsun_su_ssim import SSIM as PoHsunSuSSIM
from vainf_ssim import MS_SSIM as VainFMSSSIM
from vainf_ssim import SSIM as VainFSSIM
from skimage import data, img_as_float

img = img_as_float(data.camera())
rows, cols = img.shape

noise = np.ones_like(img) * 0.3 * (img.max() - img.min())
rng = np.random.default_rng()
noise[rng.random(size=noise.shape) > 0.5] *= -1

img_noise = img + noise
img_const = np.zeros_like(img)

img_tensor = torch.from_numpy(img).unsqueeze(0).unsqueeze(0).float()
img_noise_tensor = torch.from_numpy(img_noise).unsqueeze(0).unsqueeze(0).float()
img_const_tensor = torch.from_numpy(img_const).unsqueeze(0).unsqueeze(0).float()

fig, axes = plt.subplots(nrows=1, ncols=3, figsize=(15, 7))
ax = axes.ravel()

mse_none = F.mse_loss(img_tensor, img_tensor, reduction="mean")
mse_noise = F.mse_loss(img_tensor, img_noise_tensor, reduction="mean")
mse_const = F.mse_loss(img_tensor, img_const_tensor, reduction="mean")

# https://github.com/VainF/pytorch-msssim
vainf_ssim_none = VainFSSIM(channel=1, data_range=1)(img_tensor, img_tensor)
vainf_ssim_noise = VainFSSIM(channel=1, data_range=1)(img_tensor, img_noise_tensor)
vainf_ssim_const = VainFSSIM(channel=1, data_range=1)(img_tensor, img_const_tensor)
vainf_ms_ssim_none = VainFMSSSIM(channel=1, data_range=1)(img_tensor, img_tensor)
vainf_ms_ssim_noise = VainFMSSSIM(channel=1, data_range=1)(img_tensor, img_noise_tensor)
vainf_ms_ssim_const = VainFMSSSIM(channel=1, data_range=1)(img_tensor, img_const_tensor)

# use the settings of https://github.com/VainF/pytorch-msssim
ssim_vainf = SSIM(L=1, padding=0, ensemble_kernel=False)
ssim_none_0 = ssim_vainf(img_tensor, img_tensor)
ssim_noise_0 = ssim_vainf(img_tensor, img_noise_tensor)
ssim_const_0 = ssim_vainf(img_tensor, img_const_tensor)
ms_ssim_none_0 = ssim_vainf(img_tensor, img_tensor, return_msssim=True)
ms_ssim_noise_0 = ssim_vainf(img_tensor, img_noise_tensor, return_msssim=True)
ms_ssim_const_0 = ssim_vainf(img_tensor, img_const_tensor, return_msssim=True)

# https://github.com/Po-Hsun-Su/pytorch-ssim
pohsunsu_ssim_none = PoHsunSuSSIM()(img_tensor, img_tensor)
pohsunsu_ssim_noise = PoHsunSuSSIM()(img_tensor, img_noise_tensor)
pohsunsu_ssim_const = PoHsunSuSSIM()(img_tensor, img_const_tensor)

# use the settings of https://github.com/Po-Hsun-Su/pytorch-ssim
ssim_pohsunsu = SSIM(L=1, padding=None, ensemble_kernel=True)
ssim_none_1 = ssim_pohsunsu(img_tensor, img_tensor)
ssim_noise_1 = ssim_pohsunsu(img_tensor, img_noise_tensor)
ssim_const_1 = ssim_pohsunsu(img_tensor, img_const_tensor)


ax[0].imshow(img, cmap=plt.cm.gray, vmin=0, vmax=1)
ax[0].set_xlabel(
    f"MSE: {mse_none:.6f}\n"
    f"SSIM {ssim_none_0:.6f}, MS-SSIM {ms_ssim_none_0:.6f}\n"
    f"(VainF) SSIM: {vainf_ssim_none:.6f}, MS-SSIM {vainf_ms_ssim_none:.6f}\n"
    f"SSIM {ssim_none_1:.6f}\n"
    f"(PoHsunSu) SSIM: {pohsunsu_ssim_none:.6f}\n"
)
ax[0].set_title("Original image")

ax[1].imshow(img_noise, cmap=plt.cm.gray, vmin=0, vmax=1)
ax[1].set_xlabel(
    f"MSE: {mse_noise:.6f}\n"
    f"SSIM {ssim_noise_0:.6f}, MS-SSIM {ms_ssim_noise_0:.6f}\n"
    f"(VainF) SSIM: {vainf_ssim_noise:.6f}, MS-SSIM {vainf_ms_ssim_noise:.6f}\n"
    f"SSIM {ssim_noise_1:.6f}\n"
    f"(PoHsunSu) SSIM: {pohsunsu_ssim_noise:.6f}\n"
)
ax[1].set_title("Image with noise")

ax[2].imshow(img_const, cmap=plt.cm.gray, vmin=0, vmax=1)
ax[2].set_xlabel(
    f"MSE: {mse_const:.6f}\n"
    f"SSIM {ssim_const_0:.6f}, MS-SSIM {ms_ssim_const_0:.6f}\n"
    f"(VainF) SSIM: {vainf_ssim_const:.6f}, MS-SSIM {vainf_ms_ssim_const:.6f}\n"
    f"SSIM {ssim_const_1:.6f}\n"
    f"(PoHsunSu) SSIM: {pohsunsu_ssim_const:.6f}\n"
)
ax[2].set_title("Image plus constant")


[ax[i].set(xticklabels=[], yticklabels=[], xticks=[], yticks=[]) for i in range(len(axes))]

plt.tight_layout()
plt.savefig("results.png")

More Examples

# setting 4: for 4d float tensors with the data range [0, 1] and 1 channel, return the logarithmic form per batch item
ssim_caller = SSIM(return_log=True, reduction="batch").cuda()

# two 4d tensors
x = torch.randn(3, 1, 100, 100).cuda()
y = torch.randn(3, 1, 100, 100).cuda()
ssim_score_0 = ssim_caller(x, y)
# or in the fp16 mode (we have fixed the computation progress into the float32 mode to avoid the unexpected result)
with torch.cuda.amp.autocast(enabled=True):
    ssim_score_1 = ssim_caller(x, y)
assert torch.allclose(ssim_score_0, ssim_score_1)
print(ssim_score_0.shape, ssim_score_1.shape)

As A Loss

As you can see from the respective thresholds of the two cases below, it is easier to optimize towards MSSIM=1 than MSSIM=-1.

Optimize towards MSSIM=1

prediction

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import torch
from pytorch_ssim import SSIM
from skimage import data
from torch import optim

original_image = data.moon() / 255
target_image = torch.from_numpy(original_image).unsqueeze(0).unsqueeze(0).float().cuda()
predicted_image = torch.zeros_like(
    target_image, device=target_image.device, dtype=target_image.dtype, requires_grad=True
)
initial_image = predicted_image.clone()

ssim = SSIM().cuda()
initial_ssim_value = ssim(predicted_image, target_image)

ssim_value = initial_ssim_value
optimizer = optim.Adam([predicted_image], lr=0.01)
loss_curves = []
while ssim_value < 0.999:
    ssim_out = 1 - ssim(predicted_image, target_image)
    loss_curves.append(ssim_out.item())
    ssim_value = 1 - ssim_out.item()
    print(ssim_value)
    ssim_out.backward()
    optimizer.step()
    optimizer.zero_grad()

fig, axes = plt.subplots(nrows=2, ncols=4, figsize=(8, 4))
ax = axes.ravel()

ax[0].imshow(original_image, cmap=plt.cm.gray, vmin=0, vmax=1)
ax[0].set_title("Original Image")

ax[1].imshow(initial_image.squeeze().detach().cpu().numpy(), cmap=plt.cm.gray, vmin=0, vmax=1)
ax[1].set_xlabel(f"SSIM: {initial_ssim_value:.5f}")
ax[1].set_title("Initial Image")

ax[2].imshow(predicted_image.squeeze().detach().cpu().numpy(), cmap=plt.cm.gray, vmin=0, vmax=1)
ax[2].set_xlabel(f"SSIM: {ssim_value:.5f}")
ax[2].set_title("Predicted Image")

ax[3].plot(loss_curves)
ax[3].set_title("SSIM Loss Curve")

ax[4].set_title("Original Image")
ax[4].hist(original_image.ravel(), bins=256)
ax[4].ticklabel_format(axis="y", style="scientific", scilimits=(0, 0))
ax[4].set_xlabel("Pixel Intensity")

ax[5].set_title("Initial Image")
ax[5].hist(initial_image.squeeze().detach().cpu().numpy().ravel(), bins=256)
ax[5].ticklabel_format(axis="y", style="scientific", scilimits=(0, 0))
ax[5].set_xlabel("Pixel Intensity")

ax[6].set_title("Predicted Image")
ax[6].hist(predicted_image.squeeze().detach().cpu().numpy().ravel(), bins=256)
ax[6].ticklabel_format(axis="y", style="scientific", scilimits=(0, 0))
ax[6].set_xlabel("Pixel Intensity")

plt.tight_layout()
plt.savefig("prediction.png")

Optimize towards MSSIM=-1

prediction

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import torch
from pytorch_ssim import SSIM
from skimage import data
from torch import optim

original_image = data.moon() / 255
target_image = torch.from_numpy(original_image).unsqueeze(0).unsqueeze(0).float().cuda()
predicted_image = torch.zeros_like(
    target_image, device=target_image.device, dtype=target_image.dtype, requires_grad=True
)
initial_image = predicted_image.clone()

ssim = SSIM(L=original_image.max() - original_image.min()).cuda()
initial_ssim_value = ssim(predicted_image, target_image)

ssim_value = initial_ssim_value
optimizer = optim.Adam([predicted_image], lr=0.01)
loss_curves = []
while ssim_value > -0.94:
    ssim_out = ssim(predicted_image, target_image)
    loss_curves.append(ssim_out.item())
    ssim_value = ssim_out.item()
    print(ssim_value)
    ssim_out.backward()
    optimizer.step()
    optimizer.zero_grad()

fig, axes = plt.subplots(nrows=2, ncols=4, figsize=(8, 4))
ax = axes.ravel()

ax[0].imshow(original_image, cmap=plt.cm.gray, vmin=0, vmax=1)
ax[0].set_title("Original Image")

ax[1].imshow(initial_image.squeeze().detach().cpu().numpy(), cmap=plt.cm.gray, vmin=0, vmax=1)
ax[1].set_xlabel(f"SSIM: {initial_ssim_value:.5f}")
ax[1].set_title("Initial Image")

ax[2].imshow(predicted_image.squeeze().detach().cpu().numpy(), cmap=plt.cm.gray, vmin=0, vmax=1)
ax[2].set_xlabel(f"SSIM: {ssim_value:.5f}")
ax[2].set_title("Predicted Image")

ax[3].plot(loss_curves)
ax[3].set_title("SSIM Loss Curve")

ax[4].set_title("Original Image")
ax[4].hist(original_image.ravel(), bins=256)
ax[4].ticklabel_format(axis="y", style="scientific", scilimits=(0, 0))
ax[4].set_xlabel("Pixel Intensity")

ax[5].set_title("Initial Image")
ax[5].hist(initial_image.squeeze().detach().cpu().numpy().ravel(), bins=256)
ax[5].ticklabel_format(axis="y", style="scientific", scilimits=(0, 0))
ax[5].set_xlabel("Pixel Intensity")

ax[6].set_title("Predicted Image")
ax[6].hist(predicted_image.squeeze().detach().cpu().numpy().ravel(), bins=256)
ax[6].ticklabel_format(axis="y", style="scientific", scilimits=(0, 0))
ax[6].set_xlabel("Pixel Intensity")

plt.tight_layout()
plt.savefig("prediction.png")

Reference

Cite

If you find this library useful, please cite our bibtex:

@online{mssim.pytorch,
    author="lartpang",
    title="{A better pytorch-based implementation for the mean structural similarity. Differentiable simpler SSIM and MS-SSIM.}",
    url="https://github.com/lartpang/mssim.pytorch",
    note="(Jun 21, 2022)",
}