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Assume $w\in BV\cap L^{\infty }$ minimizes scalar total variation denoising for $g\in BV\cap L^2$. The data $g$ may be unbounded. For the local flow of $\phi e_j$, use $(1-\theta )w+\theta w\circ {\Phi }_{\pm t}$ as two competitors. The total variation under opposite smooth flows and convexity of the total variation seminorm bound the sum of regularizer changes by $O(t^2)$. Minimality and the opposite-flow fidelity identity for quadratic data, evaluated using the BV jump-product limit with one bounded factor, implyLet $\theta \downarrow 0$. The integrands define finite signed Radon measures, since $w$ is bounded and the jump variation of $g$ is finite. Arbitrary nonnegative smooth $\phi$ make their densities nonnegative. Testing every coordinate direction removes the factor $|{\nu }_w\cdot e_j|$ and proves the stated inequality.

For scalar total variation denoising with $f\in BV(\Omega )\cap L^2(\Omega )$ on a bounded Lipschitz domain in arbitrary dimension, the reconstructed jump set of a bounded-variation function lies in the data jump set of a bounded-variation function up to a surface-null set. The jump-amplitude inequality for total variation denoising proves this: outside $J_f$, the two BV traces on a hypersurface of $f$ agree, so $[u]([f]-[u])\ge 0$ forces $[u]=0$. Surviving jumps cannot be stronger than the corresponding data jumps and must have the same orientation. Existing jumps may disappear.

The proof uses scalar total variation splitting under clipping, residual-preserving clipping of an ROF minimizer, total variation under opposite smooth flows and the BV jump-product limit with one bounded factor. It requires neither bounded data nor bounded output. The bounded-forcing geometric proof through noncontact of ROF level boundaries remains an alternative for bounded images; it is not used to infer regularity under unbounded forcing.

Let $w\in BV\cap L^{\infty }$ and $g\in BV\cap L^2$ on a bounded domain, $F_g(v)=\frac{1}{2}\Vert v-g{\Vert }_2^2$, and $w_{\pm t}=(1-\theta )w+\theta w\circ {\Phi }_{\pm t}$ for a smooth compactly supported local flow. The displayed formula is exact to an $o(t)$ remainder, and $g$ need not be bounded. Writing $J_t=\det D{\Phi }_t$, its cross-term identity isThe remainder is $o(t)$ because $1-J_{-t}=O(t)$ and weighted $L^1$ convergence follows fromFirst let $t\to 0$, then $K\to \infty$. The mass change of $w^2$ under opposite flows is $O(t^2)\Vert w{\Vert }_2^2$. Combined with the BV jump-product limit with one bounded factor, this evaluates the jump contribution without a bounded fidelity derivative.

The literal assumptions suffice for the scalar quadratic fidelity problem. One can avoid regularity of level-set boundaries by moving only a clipped part of the minimizer. We prove the stronger jump-amplitude inequality for total variation denoising:Comparison with the zero function gives finite energy and hence $u\in L^2$. Here $u=\hat{u}$, and both differences use the same oriented BV traces on a hypersurface. Reversing the normal reverses both differences and leaves the inequality unchanged. Outside $J_f$, the two traces of $f$ agree, so the inequality would read $-[u{]}^2\ge 0$ at a jump of $u$. It therefore gives the requested no-new-jumps property of total variation denoising in every dimension.

First use residual-preserving clipping of an ROF minimizer. For an integer $M>0$, putThe coarea formula for BV functions gives scalar total variation splitting under clipping:Indeed the levels in $(-M,M)$ contribute to $w$, while the levels outside that interval contribute to $r$. This uses the full signed coarea formula. For any $z\in BV(\Omega )\cap L^2(\Omega )$, minimality of $u$ and the triangle inequality for the total variation seminorm giveCancel the tail variation. Thus $w$ is a bounded ROF denoising minimizer for $g\in BV(\Omega )\cap L^2(\Omega )$. The data $g$ may still be unbounded. This is an exact reduction preserving $w-g=u-f$; it does not truncate the data and then pass to a limit of different reconstructions.

We next prove the jump-amplitude inequality for a bounded ROF minimizer, allowing its data to be unbounded. Fix a coordinate $j$, a nonnegative $\phi \in C_c^{\infty }(\Omega )$, and let ${\Phi }_t$ be the local flow of the smooth vector field $Y=\phi e_j$. The flow is the identity near the domain boundary, preserves each line parallel to $e_j$, and satisfies ${\Phi }_{-t}={\Phi }_t^{-1}$. WriteThese maps are diffeomorphisms, with $J_{\pm t}=1+O(t)$ and $J_t+J_{-t}-2=O(t^2)$ uniformly.

The useful trace calculation is the BV jump-product limit with one bounded factor. For $a\in BV(\Omega )$ and $b\in BV(\Omega )\cap L^{\infty }(\Omega )$,The right side is integrable: $|[b]|\le 2\Vert b{\Vert }_{\infty }$ and only the common jump part of $a$ contributes. The same limit holds with both increments replaced by their negative-time increments, still dividing by positive $t$.

Here is why this calculation needs only one bounded factor. By the BV slicing theorem, almost every coordinate slice of $a$ and $b$ has one-sided representatives. On one such interval let $\mu =Da$ and use its right-continuous representative. Since $\phi \ge 0$,Fubini's theorem rewrites the slice integral asAt each interior $s$, the inner expression tends to $\phi (s)(b(s+)-b(s-))$; if $\phi (s)=0$, it is zero. Its absolute value is at most $2\Vert b{\Vert }_{\infty }\Vert \phi {\Vert }_{\infty }$. Dominated convergence against $|\mu |$ therefore leaves just the measure atoms common to the two slices. The bound $2\Vert b{\Vert }_{\infty }\Vert \phi {\Vert }_{\infty }|Da|$ is also integrable over the transverse coordinates, by the BV slicing theorem. Integrating the slice jump sums gives the surface integral and its factor $|{\nu }_b\cdot e_j|$. Negative-time increments give the same product, because both slice differences reverse sign. At no point is a uniform bound on $a$ across the slices required.

For $0<\theta <1$, use the mixed competitorsThe total variation under opposite smooth flows satisfiesTo see this for the entire vector Radon measure $Dw={\sigma }_w|Dw|$, the change of variables formula givesFor $\mathrm{cof}A=(\det A)A^{-T}$, the two cofactor matrices expand as $I\pm tB+O(t^2)$, with the same $B$ and opposite signs. Their norm expansions on $|{\sigma }_w|=1$ have cancelling linear terms. Integrating proves the estimate, including the absolutely continuous, jump and Cantor parts. The BV transformation formula is also given in Lemma 4.2 on differentiable regularizers; that lemma does not assume bounded data. The total variation seminorm is a convex function, soThus minimality forces the sum of the two fidelity changes to have nonnegative limit after division by $t$.

It remains to evaluate that sum without bounding $g$. Put $F_g(v)=\frac{1}{2}\Vert v-g{\Vert }_2^2$. Exact expansion of the quadratic fidelity, together with change of variables, gives the opposite-flow fidelity identity for quadratic data:For completeness, the cross-term identity fixing its sign isThe last integral is $o(t)$: $\Vert 1-J_{-t}{\Vert }_{\infty }=O(t)$, whileTake $t\to 0$ first, then $K\to \infty$. Here $g\in L^1$ and the local flow is strongly continuous in $L^1$. The remaining Jacobian mass term is $O(t^2)\Vert w{\Vert }_2^2$. This argument avoids multiplying an unbounded fidelity derivative by an uncontrolled derivative measure.

Apply the BV jump-product limit with one bounded factor with $(a,b)=(g,w)$ and $(w,w)$, and use minimality. For every nonnegative $\phi$ and every coordinate $j$,Let $\theta \downarrow 0$. These are inequalities for finite signed Radon measures, so arbitrary nonnegative smooth tests imply nonnegativity of their densities. Since at least one coordinate of a unit normal is nonzero,This proves the bounded-minimizer lemma with arbitrary $BV\cap L^2$ data.

Finally return to $w=T_{M}u$ and $g=f-u+w$. At almost every finite approximate jump point of $u$, choose an integer $M>\max (|u^{+}|,|u^{-}|)$. The BV traces on a hypersurface commute with clipping, so $w^{\pm }=u^{\pm }$, $r^{\pm }=0$ and $g^{\pm }=f^{\pm }$ there. It is consequently a jump point of $w$, and its inequality is exactly $[u]([f]-[u])\ge 0$. A countable union over $M$ removes all exceptional surface-null sets. Outside $J_f$, the BV traces on a hypersurface of $f$ agree almost everywhere. We concludeThe mechanism is exact scalar coarea splitting, paired smooth-flow variations, a one-bounded-factor BV trace limit, and localization through integer clipping levels. It works in every dimension under the printed hypotheses, without essential boundedness of $f$ or $u$ and without regularity of their level-set boundaries.

In total variation calibration notation, $\mathrm{div}z=(u-f)/\alpha$. Since this divergence is itself in the BV space, the proved inequality equivalently readsThus an upward output jump forces the appropriate nonpositive jump of the calibrated divergence. This is a consequence of the variational argument above, with common oriented BV traces on a hypersurface; no curvature of the rectifiable interface or differentiability of its normal is assumed.