Comprehensive color solutions: CAM16, CAT16, and CAM16‐UCS

The CIECAM02 color‐appearance model enjoys popularity in scientific research and industrial applications since it was recommended by the CIE in 2002. However, it has been found that computational failures can occur in certain cases such as during the image processing of cross‐media color reproduction applications. Some proposals have been developed to repair the CIECAM02 model. However, all the proposals developed have the same structure as the original CIECAM02 model and solve the problems concerned at the expense of losing accuracy of predicted visual data compared with the original model. In this article, the structure of the CIECAM02 model is changed and the color and luminance adaptations to the illuminant are completed in the same space rather than in two different spaces, as in the original CIECAM02 model. It has been found that the new model (named CAM16) not only overcomes the previous problems, but also the performance in predicting the visual results is as good as if not better than that of the original CIECAM02 model. Furthermore the new CAM16 model is simpler than the original CIECAM02 model. In addition, if considering only chromatic adaptation, a new transformation, CAT16, is proposed to replace the previous CAT02 transformation. Finally, the new CAM16‐UCS uniform color space is proposed to replace the previous CAM02‐UCS space. A new complete solution for color‐appearance prediction and color‐difference evaluation can now be offered.     

Is CIELAB one space or many?

Models in colour engineering can have implicit customary usage, outside of whose parameters one is not supposed to venture. CIELAB is one such model: although able to accommodate a prediction of asymmetric matches, CIELAB is used in practice to compare colours only for a given illuminant/observer condition. Should we therefore deem CIELAB to be an infinity of spaces, one for each illuminant/observer combination? This question has its roots in an oddity of CIELAB’s chromatic‐adaptation model. A chromatic‐adaptation oddity also entered CIE models that emerged after CIELAB, and leads to a similarly perplexing question.     

Digital image‐color conversion between different illuminants by color‐constancy actuation in a color‐vision model based on the OSA‐UCS system

In digital image capture, the camera signals produced by the D65 illuminant, once translated into tristimulus values of the CIE 1931 standard colorimetric observer (assuming the Maxwell‐Ives‐Luther criterion is satisfied), are considered good to produce accurate color rendering. An image obtained under any illuminant other than D65 does not appear realistic and the tristimulus values of the camera must be transformed into the corresponding ones produced by the D65 illuminant. This transformation must satisfy color constancy. In this work, the transformation is obtained by a color‐vision model based on the Optical Society of America‐Uniform Color Scales system [Color Res Appl 2005; 30: 31–41] and is represented by a matrix dependent on the adaptation illuminant. This matrix is obtained by minimizing the distance between the pairs of the uniform scale chromatic responses related to the tristimulus values of the 99 different color samples of the SG Gretag‐Macbeth ColorChecker measured under a pair of different illuminants, one of which is the D65. Then any picture captured under a given light source can be translated into the picture of the same scene under the D65 illuminant. Metameric reason allows only approximate solutions. The transformations from Daylight and Planckian illuminants to the D65 illuminant have a very regular dependence on the color temperature, that appears to be the typical parameter for the color conversion. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 38, 412–422, 2013     

The CRI‐CAM02UCS colour rendering index

A new colour rendering index, CRI‐CAM02UCS, is proposed. It predicts visual results more accurately than the CIE CIR‐R_a. It includes two components necessary for predicting colour rendering in one metric: a chromatic adaptation transform and uniform colour space based on the CIE recommended colour appearance model, CIECAM02. The new index gave the same ranks as those of CIE‐R_a in the six lamps tested regardless the sample sets used. It was also found that the methods based on the size of colour gamut did not agree with those based on the test‐sample method. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 2012     

CMC 2002 colour inconstancy index; CMCCON02

A colour inconstancy index, CMCCON02, is used for predicting the degree of colour inconstancy of a specimen defined by its spectral reflectance. CMCCON02 is different from the previously proposed CMCCON97 due to the replacement of the original chromatic adaptation transform (CMCCAT97) by CAT02. The latter is embedded in the CIE 2002 colour appearance model, CIECAM02. CAT02 is a simplified version of CMCCAT97 and gives more accurate predictions of the various experimental data sets. The CMCCON02 transform is in the process of being incorporated into ISO 105. This publication is sponsored by the Society's Colour Measurement Committee.     

Mathematical approach for predicting non‐negative tristimulus values using the CAT02 chromatic adaptation transform

It has been reported that for certain colour samples, the chromatic adaptation transform CAT02 imbedded in the CIECAM02 colour appearance model predicts corresponding colours with negative tristimulus values (TSVs), which can cause problems in certain applications. To overcome this problem, a mathematical approach is proposed for modifying CAT02. This approach combines a non‐negativity constraint for the TSVs of corresponding colours with the minimization of the colour differences between those values for the corresponding colours obtained by visual observations and the TSVs of the corresponding colours predicted by the model, which is a constrained non‐linear optimization problem. By solving the non‐linear optimization problem, a new matrix is found. The performance of the CAT02 transform with various matrices including the original CAT02 matrix, and the new matrix are tested using visual datasets and the optimum colours. Test results show that the CAT02 with the new matrix predicted corresponding colours without negative TSVs for all optimum colours and the colour matching functions of the two CIE standard observers under the test illuminants considered. However, the accuracy with the new matrix for predicting the visual data is approximately 1 CIELAB colour difference unit worse compared with the original CAT02. This indicates that accuracy has to be sacrificed to achieve the non‐negativity constraint for the TSVs of the corresponding colours. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 2011     

Some concerns regarding the CAT16 chromatic adaptation transform

In recent literature, a new chromatic adaptation transform, CAT16, has been published to improve upon the widely used CAT02 model. The CAT16 model is based on the form of the CAT02 transform adopted in CIECAM02, but uses a slightly different sensor space to fix some gamut problems plaguing CIECAM02 and adopts a two-step CAT to ensure symmetry and transitivity. CAT16 is included in CAM16 but is also being promoted as a stand-alone CAT, one that can be used outside of the CAM16 model. However, the use of CAT16 as a stand-alone model can cause inconsistencies in the calculated corresponding colors due to the presence of the relative luminance of the adapting white (Y_w) in the von Kries-Ives gain control factors. Such inconsistencies are not present for the stand-alone version of the CAT02 model, which, unlike the version adopted in CIECAM02, does not include the Y_w factors. CAT16 should therefore be modified by omitting the Y_w factors. In this article, we will briefly discuss these issues in more detail and provide a consistent two-step CAT adopting the CAT16 sensor space.     

Chromatic adaptation transform by spectral reconstruction

A color appearance model (CAM) is an advanced colorimetric tool used to predict color appearance under a wide variety of viewing conditions. A chromatic adaptation transform (CAT) is an integral part of a CAM. Its role is to predict “corresponding colors,” that is, a pair of colors that have the same color appearance when viewed under different illuminants, after partial or full adaptation to each illuminant. Modern CATs can sometimes generate colors with negative tristimulus values. For some imaging applications, it is important to maintain positive tristimulus values when applying a CAT. This article proposes a new CAT that does not operate on the standard von Kries model of adaptation. Instead, it uses a spectral reconstruction technique as an intermediate stage in the process, while still requiring only tristimulus values as inputs. It is demonstrated that the proposed CAT will not generate colors outside the spectral locus or colors with negative tristimulus values. The proposed CAT does not use established empirical corresponding‐colors data sets to optimize performance, as most modern CATs do, yet it performs as well as or better than the most recent CATs when tested against the data sets of corresponding colors.     

A FORTRAN program for predicting the effects of chromatic adaptation on color appearance based on current CIE recommendations

The CIE has recently recommended for field trial a method for predicting corresponding colors with a change in chromatic adaptation. To aid the CIE in collecting results illustrating the accuracy of these predictions, a FORTRAN program currently used by the Munsell Color Science Laboratory is listed along with test data. This chromatic-adaptation transform can be used to calculate CIELAB or CIELUV metrics for non-daylight illuminants, indices of illuminant metamerism, and indices of color constancy. Including this transform in these calculations, it is hoped, will result in metrics with better correlation to visual assessments. It is hoped that readers will implement this method, compare the effectivness of this chromatic-adaptation transform to visual evaluations, and report their results to CIE Technical Committee 1–06.     

Adaptation and colour matching of display and surface colours

In an asymmetric colour matching experiment, eleven observers adjusted computer displays to colour‐match surface samples in a viewing booth. We found systematic discrepancies between the observers' judgments and the predictions of the CIE 1964 Standard Colorimetric Observer. The features of the discrepancies are consistent with previous reports on adaptation in colour matching and on failures of colorimetric additivity, but have never been confirmed to be significant in practical colorimetry. We attribute the discrepancies to post‐receptoral adaptation mainly of the blue‐yellow chromatic channel, and report a framework of an adaptation transform based on the MacLeod‐Boynton chromaticity diagram which can compensate for them without abandoning traditional colorimetry and the use of tristimulus values. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 34, 182–193, 2009     

Unique hue data for colour appearance models. Part II: Chromatic adaptation transform

Unique hue settings of 185 observers under three room‐lighting conditions were used to evaluate the accuracy of full and mixed chromatic adaptation transform models of CIECAM02 in terms of unique hue reproduction. Perceptual hue shifts in CIECAM02 were evaluated for both models with no clear difference using the current Commission Internationale de l'Éclairage (CIE) recommendation for mixed chromatic adaptation ratio. Using our large dataset of unique hue data as a benchmark, an optimised parameter is proposed for chromatic adaptation under mixed illumination conditions that produces more accurate results in unique hue reproduction. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 2013     

Methods for generating spectral reflectance functions leading to color-constant properties

The Munsell color order system was rigorously defined for illuminant, observer, and surround. Using Nayatani's nonlinear model of chromatic adaptation, approximately colorconstant 1931 CIE tristimulus values for the notations of the Munsell Book of Color were calculated for a variety of continuous-spectrum illuminants between CIE A and 7600 K daylight. Several linear-programming models were devised for generating spectral reflectance functions that integrate to these tristimulus values. The most successful of these was a model based on an approximate-hue vector in tristimulus space, in which movement off and along this vector was restricted. Restrictions were also applied to the rate of change of reflectance with wavelength, following Ohta, and the model led to relatively smooth curves, comparable to those of real colorants. Indices of color constancy were devised to estimate the accuracy of the predictions. Comparisons with actual reflectance functions from physical samples revealed, in most cases, an improvement in color constancy and hue constancy.     

Influences of lighting time course and background on categorical colour constancy with RGB‐LED light sources

Some previous studies have investigated the influence of the lighting time course and viewing background on the colour constancy using two‐dimensional flat stimuli simulated on a monitor. In the present study, we investigated the categorical colour constancy in real scenes by manipulating (a) the lighting time course, that is, adaptation period to the illuminant (brief adaptation or complete adaptation) and (b) the background structure of a stimulus (a uniform gray background with an approximately 25% spectral reflectance or a multicolour background consisting of the Macbeth ColorChecker and some fruit models). The neutral (u′ = 0.1994, v′ = 0.4671), red (u′ = 0.2433, v′ = 0.4622), green (u′ = 0.1525, v′ = 0.4697), blue (u′ = 0.2049, v′ = 0.4198), and yellow (u′ = 0.1892, v′ = 0.5112) illuminants were produced by an RGB‐LED lamp. For each chromatic illumination condition, subjects categorized 240 surfaces with Munsell Value 5/ in four viewing conditions with different combinations of the lighting time course and the background structure. A total of seven subjects participated in experiments with red and green illuminants and five subjects with blue and yellow illuminants. The results showed that the constancy index was the lowest (0.66) in the brief adaptation and gray background condition and the highest (0.74) in the complete adaptation and multicolour background condition. The results suggest that increasing the adaptation period alone or adding chromatic cues in the background with a brief adaptation can help to improve the colour constancy, and a time‐taking reference to surrounding coloured objects with the long presentation of the illuminant may also contribute to obtaining colour constancy.     

Chromatic adaptation by illuminant matrix products: An alternative to sharpened von kries primaries

Previous attempts to predict chromatic‐adaptation correspondence have led to a sharpening dilemma—i.e., Von Kries primaries are chosen that do not include in the positive octant all the realizable (x,y) chromaticities. This leads to paradoxical adaptation predictions for the colors that have negative Von Kries coordinates. A solution is proposed here that expresses the asymmetric‐matching relation of chromatic adaptation as the product of two matrix transformations, given source illuminant 1 and destination illuminant 2: from source tristimulus values via adaptation matrix 1 to the adapted state coordinates, and from the adapted state via the inverse of adaptation matrix 2 to the destination illuminant tristimulus values. To avoid the sharpening instability, the entire spectrum locus must lie within the positive octant of the adapted state tristimulus space. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 39, 275–278, 2014; Published Online 14 March 2013 in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com ). DOI 10.1002/col.21799     

Chromatic adaptation and color constancy: A possible dichotomy

Differences between chromatic adaptation and color constancy are discussed, in order to call into question the commonly held view that chromatic adaptation is the mechanism of color constancy. Whereas chromatic adaptation requires many seconds of time and occurs for simple visual scenes, color constancy asserts itself immediately and is most powerful in complex visual scenes. Furthermore, models of chromatic adaptation are not so illuminant invariant as other models of color vision. Therefore, a new operational foundation for color constancy is proposed, and existing non-adaptation models of color constancy are enumerated for future tests.     

Color-appearance model and chromatic-adaptation transform

A nonlinear color-appearance model was extended to apply to white and light-gray background. Based on this extended model, two kinds of chromatic-adaptation transforms were derived, which correspond to lightness-chroma match and brightness-colorfulness match. The chromatic-adaptation transform for lightness-chroma match is also an extension of the transform proposed by CIE for further testing. The differences between the two transforms were confirmed by visual observations. The usefulness of a combination of a color-appearance model and its corresponding chromatic adaptation transform is discussed. In addition, the practical importance of brightness and colorfulness is discussed.     

A note about the abnormal hue angle change in CIELAB space

Liu et al. [Color Res Appl 1995;20:245–250] compared the CIELAB hue angles under CIE illuminants D65 and A for quantifying the color appearance changes for gem materials. They found that CIELAB hue angle for some gem materials under illuminant D65 was larger than under A, which is contrary to the perceived blue and purple appearances under daylight and incandescent light sources, respectively. They called this phenomenon as the abnormal hue angle change in the CIELAB space for the gem materials. In this article, we note the proper way to quantify the appearance changes is to use chromatic adaptation transforms (CATs), since we are only concerning the color change of the illumination. At the same time, it is found that the chromatic adaptations in the sharper sensor space and in the cone fundamental space provide different results, the ones related to the latter being in better agreement with current blue‐to‐purple color appearance change. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 38, 322–327, 2013     

Investigation on effects of adapting chromaticities and luminance on color appearance on computer displays using memory colors

CAT02, the most widely used chromatic adaptation transform to characterize the chromatic adaptation mechanism in the human visual system, includes a factor D to characterize the degree of chromatic adaptation. This factor, however, is only determined by the luminance level of the adapting field and surround. This study was designed to investigate how the change of adapting chromaticities and the simultaneous changes of adapting chromaticities and luminance affect the degree of chromatic adaptation and color appearance on computer displays. The human observers adjusted the color appearance of various familiar objects and cubes on different display backgrounds. A higher degree of chromatic adaptation was found when using familiar objects, which was likely due to the cognitive mechanism. Both the adapting chromaticities and luminance significantly affected the degree of chromatic adaptation, with a lower degree under an adapting condition with a lower adapting correlated color temperature and a lower adapting luminance. In addition, the effect of adapting luminance on colorfulness (known as the Hunt Effect) was likely to be overpredicted in CAM02-UCS, which merits further investigations.