Ratio model for suprathreshold hue-increment detection.

We use psychophysical techniques to investigate the neural mechanisms subserving suprathreshold chromatic discrimination in human vision. We address two questions: (1) How are the postreceptoral detection mechanism responses combined to form suprathreshold chromatic discriminators? and (2) How do these discriminators contribute to color perception? We use a pedestal paradigm in which the subject is required to distinguish between a pedestal stimulus and the same pedestal added to a chromatic increment (the test). Our stimuli are represented in a cardinal space, in which the axes express the responses of the three postreceptoral detection mechanisms normalized relative to their respective detection thresholds. In the main experiment the test (a hue increment) was fixed in the direction orthogonal to the pedestal in our cardinal space. We found that, for high pedestal contrasts, the test threshold varied proportionally with the pedestal contrast. This result suggests the presence of a hue-increment detector dependent on the ratio of the outputs from the red-green and blue-yellow postreceptoral detection mechanisms. The exception to this was for pedestals and tests fixed along the cardinal axes. In that case detection was enhanced by direct input from the postreceptoral mechanism capable of detecting the test in isolation. Our results also indicate that discrimination in the red-green/luminance and blue-yellow/luminance planes exhibits a behavior similar to discrimination within the isoluminant plane. In the final experiment we observed that thresholds for hue-increment identification (e.g., selecting the bluer of two stimuli) are also governed by a ratio relationship. This finding suggests that our ratio-based mechanisms play an important role in color-difference perception.     

Text binarization in color documents

This article presents a new method for the binarization of color document images. Initially, the colors of the document image are reduced to a small number using a new color reduction technique. Specifically, this technique estimates the dominant colors and then assigns the original image colors to them in order that the background and text components to become uniform. Each dominant color defines a color plane in which the connected components (CCs) are extracted. Next, in each color plane a CC filtering procedure is applied which is followed by a grouping procedure. At the end of this stage, blocks of CCs are constructed which are next redefined by obtaining the direction of connection (DOC) property for each CC. Using the DOC property, the blocks of CCs are classified as text or nontext. The identified text blocks are binarized properly using suitable binarization techniques, considering the rest of the pixels as background. The final result is a binary image which contains always black characters in white background independently of the original colors of each text block. The proposed document binarization approach can also be used for binarization of noisy color (or gray‐scale) document images. Several experiments that confirm the effectiveness of the proposed technique are presented. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Imaging Syst Technol, 16, 262–274, 2006     

Evidence for the contribution of S cones to the detection of flicker brightness and red-green

We were interested in the question of how cones contribute to the detection of brightness, red-green, and blue-yellow. The linear combination of cone signals contributing to flicker detection was determined by fitting a plane to 64 points (colors) of equal heterochromatic flicker brightness. A small S-cone contribution to flicker brightness of similar amplitude in all five subjects was identified. The ratio of L- to M-cone contribution was found to vary considerably among subjects (1.7-4.1). Chromatic detection thresholds were determined for small patches in the isoluminant plane defined by flicker brightness. These stimuli were presented at an eccentricity of 40 arc min. By using color naming at the detection threshold, one can attribute different segments of the resulting detection ellipses to different chromatic mechanisms. Linear approximation of these segments provided an estimate for the contribution of the different cone types to the detection of red-green and blue-yellow. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that S cones contribute to the red-green mechanism with the same sign as that of the contribution from L cones. The blue-yellow mechanism very probably subtracts S-cone contrast from luminance contrast. The detection ellipse can be mapped into a circle in cone difference space. The base of this canonical transformation is a set of three cone fundamentals that differs from previously published estimates. Projecting the circle onto the three cone difference axes produces sinusoidal changes within the respective excitations. We propose that simultaneous sinusoidal changes of equal increment in the three cone difference excitations generate stimuli differing by equal saliency.     

Integration of differing chromaticities in early and midlevel spatial vision

Using Glass patterns composed of isoluminant dots we have investigated the segregation and integration of chromatic information by the visual system. By measuring pattern detection when the chromaticities of the two elements forming a dot pair are varied (intradipole variation), we characterize integration at an early level of spatial processing. By measuring pattern detection for dot pairs where the within-pair chromaticity is the same but the among-pair chromaticities are varied (interdipole variation) we characterize integration and segregation for a more global, midlevel, spatial processing mechanism. Using isoluminant patterns in which all dots have the same chromaticity, we find that (i) detection thresholds are similar to those for luminance-defined dots, and (ii) an equivalent-contrast metric approximately equates thresholds for various chromaticities, including those along both the cardinal and the intermediate axes of an opponent-color space. When intradipole chromaticity is varied we observe that (i) the ability of visual mechanisms to extract oriented dot pairs decreases with increasing chromaticity differences, and (ii) average bandwidths are similar for cardinal and intermediate directions. For pattern detection with interdipole chromatic variation the visual system does not segregate noise dot pairs from correlated dot pairs on the basis of chromatic differences alone, and appears to integrate oriented dot pairs of differing chromaticities in forming a global percept, even for large color differences. Isoluminant Glass patterns with translational and concentric correlations give similar results. The results are compared with those obtained for contrast variation in luminance-defined Glass Patterns and are discussed in terms of current multistage models of color processing by the visual system.     

Relational color constancy in achromatic and isoluminant images

Relational color constancy, which refers to the constancy of perceived relations between surface colors under changes in illuminant, may be based on the computation of spatial ratios of cone excitations. As this activity need occur only within rather than between cone pathways, relational color constancy might be assumed to be based on relative luminance processing. This hypothesis was tested in a psychophysical experiment in which observers viewed simulated images of Mondrian patterns undergoing colorimetric changes that could be attributed either to an illuminant change or to a nonilluminant change; the images were isoluminant, achromatic, or unmodified. Observers reliably discriminated the two types of changes in all three conditions, implying that relational color constancy is not based on luminance cues alone. A computer simulation showed that in these isoluminant and achromatic images spatial ratios of cone excitations and of combinations of cone excitations were almost invariant under illuminant changes and that discrimination performance could be predicted from deviations in these ratios.     

1/f Noise in human color vision: the role of S-cone signals

We examine the functional role of S-cone signals on reaction time (RT) variability in human color vision. Stimuli were selected along red-green and blue-yellow cardinal directions and at random directions in the isoluminant plane of the color space. Trial-to-trial RT variability was not statistically independent but correlated across experimental conditions and exhibited 1/f noise spectra with an exponent close to unity in most of the cases. Regarding contrast coding, 1/f noise for random chromatic stimuli at isoluminance was similar to that for achromatic stimuli, thus suggesting that S-cone signals reduce variability of higher order color mechanisms. If we regard spatial coding, the effect of S-cone density in the retina on RT variability was investigated. The magnitude of 1/f noise at 16 min of arc (S-cone free zone) was higher than at 90 min of arc in the blue-yellow channel, and it was similar for the red-green channel. The results suggest that S-cone signals are beneficial and they modulate 1/f noise spectra at postreceptoral stages. The implications related to random multiplicative processes as a possible source of 1/f noise and the optimal information processing in color vision are discussed.     

Color reduction for complex document images

A new technique for color reduction of complex document images is presented in this article. It reduces significantly the number of colors of the document image (less than 15 colors in most of the cases) so as to have solid characters and uniform local backgrounds. Therefore, this technique can be used as a preprocessing step by text information extraction applications. Specifically, using the edge map of the document image, a representative set of samples is chosen that constructs a 3D color histogram. Based on these samples in the 3D color space, a relatively large number of colors (usually no more than 100 colors) are obtained by using a simple clustering procedure. The final colors are obtained by applying a mean‐shift based procedure. Also, an edge preserving smoothing filter is used as a preprocessing stage that enhances significantly the quality of the initial image. Experimental results prove the method's capability of producing correctly segmented complex color documents where the character elements can be easily extracted as connected components. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Imaging Syst Technol, 19, 14–26, 2009     

基于图像分析的色偏检测算法

针对传统色偏检测算法存在的局限性,提出一种新的基于图像分析的色偏检测算法。该算法采用图像的色彩度指标对色偏因子的计算方法进行优化,通过色彩度加权,将含有大块单一颜色的图像"转化"为色彩丰富的图像,从而消除图像主色调对色偏检测的影响,降低色偏图像的误判率。与传统的基于图像分析的色偏检测算法进行实验比较,结果表明,该算法能够准确、高效地检测出色偏图像,提高色偏检测的准确率和可靠性;将检测结果与人眼主观评价结果进行对比,结果表明,该算法不仅能消除主色调的影响,降低色偏图像的误判率,还能准确判别色偏图像和主色调图像。     

Uniform color spaces and natural image statistics

Many aspects of visual coding have been successfully predicted by starting from the statistics of natural scenes and then asking how the stimulus could be efficiently represented. We started from the representation of color characterized by uniform color spaces, and then asked what type of color environment they implied. These spaces are designed to represent equal perceptual differences in color discrimination or appearance by equal distances in the space. The relative sensitivity to different axes within the space might therefore reflect the gamut of colors in natural scenes. To examine this, we projected perceptually uniform distributions within the Munsell, CIE L(*)u(*)v(*) or CIE L(*)a(*)b(*) spaces into cone-opponent space. All were elongated along a bluish-yellowish axis reflecting covarying signals along the L-M and S-(L+M) cardinal axes, a pattern typical (though not identical) to many natural environments. In turn, color distributions from environments were more uniform when projected into the CIE L(*)a(*)b(*) perceptual space than when represented in a normalized cone-opponent space. These analyses suggest the bluish-yellowish bias in environmental colors might be an important factor shaping chromatic sensitivity, and also suggest that perceptually uniform color metrics could be derived from natural scene statistics and potentially tailored to specific environments.     

Efficient color tuning (blue, red-orange, white) of light emitting diodes by excitation energy transfer

We present a color tuning technique allowing to control the emission colors of polymer light emitting diodes (PLEDS), which is of considerable interest for flat panel display applications. The emission color variation of the PLED from blue to red-orange is achieved by blending small amounts of a red light emitting guest polymer with the active PLED layer consisting of a blue emitting laddertype poly (paraphenylene) (LPPP). Using this new technique we realized highly efficient stable single layer PLEDs emitting different colors including white light emission. Besides the color tuning, which is established by an efficient excitation energy transfer (EET) and charge transfer from the host, m-LPPP, to the guest polymer, a significant increase of the photoluminescence (PL) and the electroluminescence (EL) quantum efficiency is observed.     

Ratio model serves suprathreshold color--luminance discrimination

We extended earlier results [J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 16, 2625 (1999)] to examine how the responses of the three postreceptoral mechanisms are combined to subserve discrimination of suprathreshold stimuli. Test thresholds were obtained in the presence of suprathreshold pedestals selected in different quadrants of the red-green/luminance and blue-yellow/luminance planes of cardinal color space. We showed that (1) test threshold was directly proportional to pedestal contrast for pedestal contrasts exceeding five times pedestal contrast threshold, and (2) there were exceptions to this proportionality, notably when the test and pedestal directions were fixed in the cardinal directions. Results support a ratio model of suprathreshold color-luminance discrimination, in which discrimination depends on a ratio of outputs of the postreceptoral mechanisms. We also observed that when test threshold was measured as a function of test color-space direction, masking by the achromatic component of the pedestal was less than that by the chromatic component. In addition, masking by a dark (negative luminance component) pedestal was lower than masking by a light (positive luminance) pedestal of a similar contrast. Our results demonstrated that (1) there is no fundamental difference between discrimination in the isoluminant and in the two chromoluminant cardinal planes, (2) there exists the possibility that discrimination in cardinal directions differs from that in noncardinal (intermediate) directions, and (3) suprathreshold discrimination of luminance differences may be more sensitive than that of chromatic differences for a given suprathreshold pedestal.     

Color tuning in alert macaque V1 assessed with fMRI and single-unit recording shows a bias toward daylight colors

Colors defined by the two intermediate directions in color space, "orange-cyan" and "lime-magenta," elicit the same spatiotemporal average response from the two cardinal chromatic channels in the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN). While we found LGN functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) responses to these pairs of colors were statistically indistinguishable, primary visual cortex (V1) fMRI responses were stronger to orange-cyan. Moreover, linear combinations of single-cell responses to cone-isolating stimuli of V1 cone-opponent cells also yielded stronger predicted responses to orange-cyan over lime-magenta, suggesting these neurons underlie the fMRI result. These observations are consistent with the hypothesis that V1 recombines LGN signals into "higher-order" mechanisms tuned to noncardinal color directions. In light of work showing that natural images and daylight samples are biased toward orange-cyan, our findings further suggest that V1 is adapted to daylight. V1, especially double-opponent cells, may function to extract spatial information from color boundaries correlated with scene-structure cues, such as shadows lit by ambient blue sky juxtaposed with surfaces reflecting sunshine.     

A multimodal molecular image fusion method based on relative total variation and co-saliency detection

Image fusion can integrate complementary information from multimodal molecular images to provide an informative single result image. In order to obtain a better fusion effect, this article proposes a novel method based on relative total variation and co-saliency detection (RTVCSD). First, only the gray-scale anatomical image is decomposed into a base layer and a texture layer according to the relative total variation; then, the three-channel color functional image is transformed into the luminance and chroma (YUV) color space, and the luminance component Y is directly fused with the base layer of the anatomical image by comparing the co-saliency information; next, the fused base layer is linearly combined with the texture layer, and the obtained fused result is combined with the chroma information U and V of the functional image. Finally, the fused image is obtained by transforming back to the red–green–blue color space. The dataset consists of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)/positron emission tomography images, MRI/single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) images, computed tomography/SPECT images, and green fluorescent protein/phase contrast images, each category with 20 image pairs. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method RTVCSD outperforms the nine comparison algorithms in terms of visual effects and objective evaluation. RTVCSD well preserves the texture information of the anatomical image and the metabolism or protein distribution information of the functional image.     

Postreceptoral chromatic-adaptation mechanisms in the red-green and blue-yellow systems using simple reaction times

Simple visual-reaction times (VRT) were measured for a variety of stimuli selected along red-green (L-M axis) and blue-yellow [S-(L + M) axis] directions in the isoluminant plane under different adaptation stimuli. Data were plotted in terms of the RMS cone contrast in contrast-threshold units. For each opponent system, a modified Piéron function was fitted in each experimental configuration and on all adaptation stimuli. A single function did not account for all the data, confirming the existence of separate postreceptoral adaptation mechanisms in each opponent system under suprathreshold conditions. The analysis of the VRT-hazard functions suggested that both color-opponent mechanisms present a well-defined, transient-sustained structure at marked suprathreshold conditions. The influence of signal polarity and chromatic adaptation on each color axis proves the existence of asymmetries in the integrated hazard functions, suggesting separate detection mechanisms for each pole (red, green, blue, and yellow detectors).     

Increments and decrements in color constancy

The present study examines whether increment-decrement asymmetries reported in a number of recent center-surround situations occur in more complex images as well. Subjects saw the CRT simulation of a whole uniformly illuminated array of foreground surfaces presented against a large background surface and, for a number of different viewing contexts, made achromatic settings over a wide range of luminance values. Three results emerged. First, subjects' achromatic loci did not fall on a single straight line in color space but rather fell on two separate lines intersecting at some point in this space. Second, the intersection points were not identical to but dependent largely on background color and showed only small effects of foreground colors. Third, cone signals that were decremental relative to the intersection point were more responsive to illuminant changes than cone signals that were incremental, the latter additionally showing some variation with foreground colors. The results are interpreted in terms of increment-decrement asymmetries. They suggest that these asymmetries occur in more complex images as well.     

基于最优色空间和视觉掩蔽的彩色图像评价算法

目的针对当前色差算法在评价彩色图像时未考虑图像中像素之间颜色在视觉上的空间效应,提出基于最优色空间和视觉掩蔽效应的彩色图像质量评价算法。方法通过分析色空间通道间的相关性,选取最优正交、对立空间作为评价的工作色空间,在此基础上,利用色空间各颜色通道的掩蔽函数,去除图像颜色与颜色之间在视觉上的空间关联性,最后构建图像颜色差别公式,以评价彩色图像质量。结果在验证实验中,通过利用Pearson相关系数、Spearman等级相关系数以及Kendall等级相关系数,分析各算法评价与图像主观评价之间的关系发现,该算法评价与主观评价的Pearson相关系数、Spearman等级相关系数和Kendall等级相关系数分别可达到0.3948,0.5840和0.4814,且分别大于现有其他色差算法评价与主观评价的相关系数。结论该算法评价结果与人眼视觉主观评价相对一致。     

Direction in the color plane as a factor in chromatic flicker and chromatic motion

A percept of motion results when a chromatic grating, formed from a spatial alternation between two isoluminant hues, drifts across the visual field. With hue pairs chosen to be equally subjectively dissimilar, the motion is greater for alternation along some directions in color space (orange/blue) than others (green/purple), suggesting a specific interaction between the (L-M) and S(0) chromatic opponent channels. This phenomenon was explored systematically by choosing 24 pairs of hues across the color circle and using the method of paired comparisons to scale their movement-inducing contrast. The flicker-inducing contrast observed from rapid alternation between the pairs was measured in the same way. Both phenomena consistently drew upon both chromatic channels, though in different proportions, as if chromatic and temporal variation information are multiplexed along motion-processing pathways. Border-distinctness data were also collected to isolate the (L-M) channel.     

Image indexing by Color Plane Moment

Among the features of content‐based image retrieval, color features provide important clues to search similar image contents. In addition to color, there exists more information in the image. In this article, we propose a new method for content‐based image retrieval: Color Plane Moment (CPM). This method combines colors' content and their spatial distribution to improve image query results. It integrates the ideas of color histogram, backprojection, and moments. The CPM uses backprojection as one of the image preprocessing methods and computes the invariant moments with those dominant color plane images after preprocessing. There are several dominant colors chosen by color histogram in an image, and each can be expressed by seven invariant moment values that represent spatial distribution of those dominant color planes, respectively. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed technique outperforms the other techniques. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Imaging Syst Technol 12, 139–148, 2002; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/ima.10022     

Perceiving color across scale: great and small, discrete and continuous

We generalize, to images with continuously varying colors, our previously published model for comparing color differences of spatially discrete visual fields (icons, symbols) of disparate sizes. Our model is structural, including scattering of light by the intraocular media, followed by sparse retinal cone cell sampling of each physiological color primary. We use our model to show that small subtense of less than half a degree drastically reduces the number of discriminable colors available within a color gamut. The proposed generalization predicts and explains appearance of color fields having a wide range of subtenses (from 1/8 deg to 44 deg in examples given).     

Tuning color by pore depth of metal-coated porous alumina

A simple and effective color tuning method has been developed by controlling the pore depth of the metal-coated porous alumina (PA) template. The mechanism for color tuning in this method was uncovered, which can be used to design a colorful complex pattern. A colorful 'world map' was produced and exhibited on a PA template by this method. Such vivid color tuning is predominantly due to the interference enhancement of the nanostructure. This method has the potential for tuning colors and being widely applied in the fields of nanotechnology, physics and photonics.