Colour for air traffic control displays

Air traffic controllers of the future will be working with full-colour raster-scan displays. This paper describes an approach to the use of colour whereby the objects on the display are assigned to a series of conceptual layers which are in turn represented as visual layers. Background map features are shown as opaque infills, overlaid with transparent infills for overlapping areas; alphanumeric labels in the foreground are shown in black, each with an attached infill to ensure good legibility and effective colour coding. Colour palettes are provided for each layer so that the display designer has flexibility but can be confident that the display will be free of colour illusions and ambiguities. The resulting displays can be used in normal office lighting. The work was undertaken for the Chief Scientist's Division of the National Air Traffic Services (part of the UK Civil Aviation Authority).     

Methods for characterizing CRT displays

Computer-controlled CRT displays can be described by a two-stage model. The first stage consists of a linear transformation matrix relating radiometric scalars of each channel with either spectral radiance or tristimulus values. The second stage is non-linear and relates digital counts with the radiometric scalars for each channel. The term system gamm, Γ, is introduced to define the non-linear stage. Γ can be characterized by either direct measurement or using a theoretical model with gain, k_g, offset, k_o, and exponential, γ, parameters. Techniques and recommendations are given both to determine the transformation matrix coefficients and estimate Γ using several methods. Special attention is given to Macintosh imaging systems. Key issues include channel and spatial independence tests, including optical flare due to internal reflections, and problems arising from preset video look-up table entries.     

Colour design in aviation cartography

The use of colour in maps from the earliest times to the present day is reviewed, and that experience is applied to the problems of airborne map displays. Studies of the priorities of various kinds of map information have been carried out. A set of principles and guidelines for the best use of colour in airborne map displays is given.     

An interactive tool for the visualization of cathode-ray tube monitor gamuts

The aim of this work was the development of an interactive tool for the visualization and the comparison of cathode-ray tube monitor gamuts.     

A system for WYSIWYG colour communication

Despite the development of more powerful and cheaper colour imaging devices, computer users often spend considerable effort creating colours on the screen only to find that when printed out later they appear to be a completely different shade. This is a problem which computer-aided design and colour management systems are only just beginning to address properly. More generally, if high colour fidelity is desired, there is cause for concern whenever attempts are made to reproduce the same colour across any different media. In the past, such problems have tended to be overcome by elaborate, tedious, iterative and usually manual matching processes. With rapid response times becoming increasingly important, the ability to communicate colour both quickly and accurately is highly desirable. This paper follows on from an earlier one in this journal which described a prototype system which was used successfully to demonstrate the feasibility of accurate colour fidelity and communication. The system, Colour-Talk, has since been further refined and the most recent developments are discussed here. This system illustrates a new way of communicating colour using the techniques of device independency and colour appearance modelling, both of which are essential to achieving WYSIWYG colour.     

Generation of interactive displays from FORTRAN using the PDP - 10/LDS-1 computer graphics system

The PDP-10/LDS-1 combination is a powerful and versatile computer graphics system. A package of programs described here permits the generation of displays and interaction with them by means of simple calls from FORTRAN programs. This makes computer graphics available to individuals who know a little FORTRAN but no assembler language. It serves also as a useful introduction to the LDS-1 for experienced programmers who intend to learn the assembler language and to write their own programs Experience with the language has shown that it is learnable quickly by the class of users at which it is aimed. In addition, the same package has been used by more experienced programmers as a powerful research tool in the study of conformations of biological macromolecules, such as proteins, DNA and RNA.     

Computer graphics and displays

A review is given of recent developments in computer graphics, with emphasis on displays. The principles of refresh, storage and raster-scan technologies are outlined, followed by an examination of developments in intelligent raster graphics terminals, displays for 3D computer graphics, and the emergence of powerful personal graphics workstations. Colour hardcopy is needed to complement today's colour raster displays, and ink-jet and electrostatic devices are described. A summary is given of the current status of international standards for computer graphics, and the paper concludes by pointing out some likely areas for future development.     

Recommendations for applying colour coding to air traffic control displays

The evaluation of colour within real-time air traffic control simulations is described with particular reference to distinguishing categories of information, designating tasks and highlighting specific information. Further consideration is given to the advantages and disadvantages of colour coding within an air traffic control context, with reference to relevant literature. Some recommendations are made for the utilization of colour coding, which are particularly relevant to electronic air traffic control displays.     

Fuzzy cognitive map architectures for medical decision support systems

Medical decision support systems can provide assistance in crucial clinical judgments, particularly for inexperienced medical professionals. Fuzzy cognitive maps (FCMs) is a soft computing technique for modeling complex systems, which follows an approach similar to human reasoning and the human decision-making process. FCMs can successfully represent knowledge and human experience, introducing concepts to represent the essential elements and the cause and effect relationships among the concepts to model the behavior of any system. Medical decision systems are complex systems that can be decomposed to non-related and related subsystems and elements, where many factors have to be taken into consideration that may be complementary, contradictory, and competitive; these factors influence each other and determine the overall clinical decision with a different degree. Thus, FCMs are suitable for medical decision support systems and appropriate FCM architectures are proposed and developed as well as the corresponding examples from two medical disciplines, i.e. speech and language pathology and obstetrics, are described.     

地图整饰模块的设计与实现

地图整饰是地图进行打印输出必不可少的过程,是一个完整的地理信息系统或数字地图制图系统不可或缺的功能模块.在分析了地图整饰功能作用的基础之上,归纳出主要整饰元素的类型和特征,并加以分类,对应用面向对象及组件化的方法,给出了一种整饰功能模块的设计方案并加以实现.基于该模块,可以方便、快捷的完成对地图的整饰工作,达到标准化打印出图的要求.为满足某些特定的需求,该模块还可以支持以其为基础的二次开发.     

Description of colours in video displays

The natural colour system (NCS) is introduced against a background of other systems for the specification of colours. Certain features of the NCS make it particularly suited to describing the colours on a video display. It is concluded that three different systems may be required to describe the colours on a video display: technical, stimulus and perceptive systems.     

The spherical visibility map

We introduce a novel representation for visibility in three dimensions and describe an efficient algorithm to construct it. The data structure is a spherical map that consists of a doubly-connected edge list embedded on the surface of a sphere. Each face of the spherical map is labeled with the polygon visible in the corresponding cone. We demonstrate that the algorithm is efficient and robust by presenting the statistics of its time and space requirements for handling several classes of input.     

New methods for self-organising map visual analysis

Self-organising maps (SOMs) have been used effectively in the visualisation and analysis of multidimensional data, with applications in exploratory data analysis (EDA) and data mining. We present three new techniques for performing visual analysis of SOMs. The first is a computationally light contraction method, closely related to the SOMs training algorithm, designed to facilitate cluster and trajectory analysis. The second is an enhanced geometric interpolation method, related to multidimensional scaling, which forms a mapping from the input space onto the map. Finally, we propose the explicit representation of graphs like the SOMs induced Delaunay triangulation for topology preservation and cluster analysis. The new methods provide an enhanced interpretation of the information contained in an SOM, leading to a better understanding of the data distributions with which they are trained, as well as providing insight into the maps formation.     

Application and experience of colour CRT flight deck displays

Colour CRT displays have the potential both to enhance the presentation of primary flight information and also to improve the interface between complex avionic systems and the flight deck crew. This paper describes research to explore this potential, and reports the opinions of a wide range of pilots who experienced such displays in the working environment.     

A fuzzy cognitive map approach for effect-based operations: An illustrative case

This paper proposes the use of fuzzy cognitive maps (FCMs) as a technique for supporting the decision-making process in effect-based planning. The goal is to determine alternative courses of action to realize the aims of an operation, and choose the best option among them. With adequate consideration of the problem features and the constraints governing the method used, an FCM is developed to model effect-based operations (EBOs). In this study, certain features that do not exist in the classical FCM method were added to our FCM concept value calculation algorithm; these include influence possibility, influence duration, dynamic influence value-changing, and influence permanence. The model developed was applied to an illustrative scenario involving military planning, and we comment on the usefulness of the proposed methodology.     

Multimedia displays for conceptual discovery: information seeking with strand maps

This article explores the use of a multimedia search interface for digital libraries based on strand maps developed by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. As semantic-spatial displays, strand maps provide a visual organization of relevant conceptual information that may promote the use of science content during digital library use. A study was conducted to compare users' cognitive processes during information seeking tasks when using a multimedia strand maps interface, versus the textual search interface currently implemented in the Digital Library for Earth System Education. Quantitative and qualitative data from think-aloud protocols revealed that students were more likely to engage with science content (e.g., analyzing the relevance of science concepts with regard to task needs) during search when using the strand maps interface compared to those using textual searching. In contrast, students using a textual search interface engaged more frequently with surface-level information (e.g., the type of a resource regardless of its science content) during search and retrieval. As a multimedia search interface for digital libraries, strand maps appear to be promising tools to promote conceptual discovery and learning through content-based processes that promote learner engagement with relevant science knowledge.     

基于调和映射的约束纹理映射方法

传统的约束纹理映射方法大都建立在迭代优化的基础上,给出的解多为近似解．为此,提出了一种基于调和映射的约束纹理映射方法,利用该方法可以得到约束纹理映射问题的一个形式化精确解．由于调和映射具有保持映射能量最小的良好性质,因此该方法能够最小化纹理映射的形变;另外,约束的纹理映射是个大交互量的工作,埘映射效果的优化调整非常重要,提出的自适应局部邻域调整方法能够实现映射效果的实时优化．该方法鲁棒并且效率高,实验结果表明利用该方法能够取得良好的绘制效果．     

Colour size illusion on liquid crystal displays and design guidelines for bioinformatics tools

Although the influence of colour on size perception has been known for a century, there is only limited research on interventions that can reduce this effect. This study was therefore undertaken in order to identify appropriate interventions and propose design guidelines for information visualisation, especially in applications where size judgement is critical. The colour size illusion was replicated on an LCD monitor, revealing that yellow images appeared the smallest among a series of red, yellow, green and blue images on a white background. Three types of interventions (background brightness, border colour and background grid brightness) were tested to identify conditions that reduce the colour illusions, but none proved to be statistically significant. Based on these experimental results and an extensive literature survey, a set of design guidelines is proposed to enhance the usability of LCD monitors and a set of design recommendations given to extend these guidelines to applications in the field of bioinformatics. These design recommendations are accompanied by an evaluation of effectiveness obtained by interviewing domain experts.     

Calculating the perceptibility of monochrome and colour displays viewed under various illumination conditions

Results from a series of calculations which assist the display designer to assess the optimum colour or colours for use on a display device are presented. Plots are produced which indicate the principles which must be adopted in the evaluation of the relative importance of display luminance and colour when the device is to be viewed under both specific and widely differing illumination conditions.