Radiometry:

Measuring Light
Radiant power or radiant flux or just flux: Φ = dQ/dt

EECS 487: Interactive energy per time unit, in joules per sec (= watt (W))
Spectral Energy Density/ energy

Computer Graphics Spectral Power Distribution

(or just Energy):
•  radiant power per unit spectrum interval
freq
•  amount of light present at each wavelength red violet
Lecture 22: •  W/nm
•  Light and Color Intensity (I ) is radiant flux per unit solid angle (W/sr)
•  Color Spaces • solid angle: a 3D angle, in steradians (sr)
4π sr covers the whole area of a unit sphere

RTR3

Photometry Purpose of Computer Graphics?

Photometry: quantifying the sensitivity of the average
human eye in perceiving the energy of various wavelengths Communication Three levels of realism:
(not colors, which can be affected by many other factors) Human perception 1. Physical realism:
•  human perception is a non-linear function •  fidelity to visual stimulation of scene
•  deals only with the visible spectrum, wavelength: 380 to 780 nm is the context •  highly computationally expensive
•  CG techniques leverage
Radiometry Photometry measures visual perception abilities 2. Photo realism:
•  fidelity to visual response to scene
radiant energy (in joules) luminous energy (in talbots) energy
Fidelity is a tool, not •  takes observer’s visual system into
radiant flux (watt) lumen (lm) power (energy/time) account
radiant intensity (I, W/sr) candela (cd, lm/sr) power/solid angle
(necessarily) the goal
radiant flux density lux (lumens/m2) power/area
•  no apology is required for 3. Functional realism:
(watt/m2) (foot-candle, fc) “approximations” •  fidelity to visual information of scene
•  especially for interactive graphics •  task-oriented info presentation
radiance luminance (candela/m2, nit) power/(area*solid angle)
•  but not for scientific visualization •  takes advantage of observer’s
irradiance illuminance integrated radiance visual attention to task
and engineering drawing!
Akeley07
Ferweda03
 Forsyth

Two Types of Light-Sensitive Cell Light Absorbance Short (420)

Rods:
•  highly sensitive, 1000× more The rods and each of the three types of
sensitive than cones cone absorb light differently
•  spread over the retina, but
predominate in peripheral vision Given a monochromatic spectrum (λ),
•  effective in low light, night-vision we denote the response (light Medium (534)

•  monochrome vision: brightness

absorbance) of the three cones
perception only, no color
to λ as s(λ), m(λ), and l(λ)

Cones:
•  three types, each sensitive to a
The response curves S = s(λ),
different frequency distribution M = m(λ), and L = l(λ) were
•  concentrated in the fovea experimentally determined in the 1980s Long (564)
(center of the retina) ⎡ L ⎤ ⎡ 0.3816 0.5785 0.0399 ⎤ ⎡ R ⎤
•  less sensitive ⎢ ⎥=⎢ ⎥⎢ ⎥
•  effective in bright light ⎢ M ⎥ ⎢ 0.1969 0.7246 0.0785 ⎥ ⎢ G ⎥
⎢⎣ S ⎥⎦ ⎢⎣ 0.0248 0.1248 0.8504 ⎥⎦ ⎣⎢ B ⎥⎦
•  give color vision
Zhang08

Cones and Rod Sensitivity Tristimulus Response Functions

The eye’s response to a unit amount of light with wavelength λ1,
r(λ1), is the linear combination s(λ1) + m(λ1) + l(λ1)
r(λ2) = s(λ2) + m(λ2) + l(λ2)
r(λ1+λ2) = (s(λ1)+s(λ2)) + (m(λ1)+m(λ2)) + (l(λ1)+l(λ2))
.20 G
R
Let an arbitrary spectrum be the sum of its
.18
constituent “monochromatic spectra,”
each with radiance Li (λi ) ⇒ ∑i Li (λi ) .16

Fraction of light absorbed

.14

by each type of cone

Assuming linearity, the response of a
.12
cone (e.g., s) to an arbitrary spectrum
Rods and cones can is given by a convolution integral: .10 l(λ2)

be thought of as filters r(L, s) =∫ s(λ)L(λ) dλ .08

• rods detect average And the eye’s response to an arbitrary .06

m(λ1)
intensity across spectrum light is a linear combination of the .04

responses of the three cones: B l(λ1) m(λ2)

.02
s(λ1) s(λ2)
r(L) = ∫ (s(λ)+m(λ)+l(λ))L(λ) dλ
0 !
= ∫ r(λ) L(λ) dλ 400 440 480 520 560 600 640 680
λ1
Wavelength (nm) Wavelength (nm) λ2
 Luminous Efficiency of the Eye Luminous Efficiency of the Eye
The eye’s total response to a multitude of
photopic: lighting conditions brighter
illumination our eyes are very sensitive, and we are able to 1

wavelengths, all having the same intensity:

detect small di⇥erences in luminance, however our acuity
for pattern details and our ability to distinguish colors are
than 3.4 cd/m
both poor. This 2 (twilight or brighter,
is why it is difficult to read a newspaper at 0
cones
twilight or to correctly choose a pair of colored socks while

log Relative Efficiency

cones effective)
dressing at dawn. Conversely, in daylight we have sharp
!1
color vision, but absolute sensitivity is low and luminance

a.k.a. the CIE photopic

A Model of Visual Adaptation for Realistic Image
di⇥erences must be great if we are to detect them. This is
Synthesis
scotopic: moonless night or darker,
why it is impossible to see the stars against the sunlit sky. !2
Further, adaptation does not happen instantaneously.

spectral luminous
James A. Ferwerda Sumanta N. Pattanaik
Nearly everyone has experienced the temporary blindness

below 0.034 cd/m

that occurs when you enter
canPeter Shirley
sometimes take
2, rods effective
a few
a dark theatre for a matinee. It
minutes before youDonald
can see well P. Greenberg
!3

efficiency curve, enough to find an empty seat. Similarly, once you have dark
(response curve centered around
adapted in the theatre and then go out into the daylight af-
ter the show, the brightness is at first dazzling and you need
!4
rods

centered around 555 nm Program of Computer Graphics,

can Cornell University
to squint or shield your eyes, but within about a minute, you
507 nm) see normally again.
To produce realistic synthetic images that capture the ap-
!5
400 450 500 550 600
Wavelength (nm)
650 700

•  spectral sensitivity changes to bluish

pearance of actual scenes, we need to take adaptation-related

changes in vision into account. In this paper we develop a Figure 2: Scotopic V ⇥ and photopic V luminous efficiency
monochrome
computational model of visual adaptation and apply it to the
problem of rendering scenes illuminated at vastly di⇥erent
functions. After Wyszecki (1982).

Luminance (Y or V):
levels. The model predicts the visibility of object features
Abstract Luminance -6
and colors at particular -4
illumination -2 and simulates
levels, 0 2 4 6 8
(logthe changes
cd/m 2) in visibility and appearance that occur over the the range of 0.01 to 108 cd/m2 . At light levels from 0.01 to
• is the overall magnitude of visual response to a spectrum
In this paper we develop a computational model of vi-
time-course of light and dark adaptation. 10 cd/m2 both the rod and cone systems are active. This
starlight moonlight indoorislighting
known as the sunlight
mesopic range. Relatively little is known

(independent of color, ≈ “brightness/intensity”)

about vision in the mesopic range but this is increasingly a
2 of
Range Physiological foundations of adaptation
sual adaptation for realistic image synthesis based on psy- Illumination scotopic mesopic
topic of interest because computer-based office environments
with CRTphotopic
displays and subdued lighting exercise the visual

∫ yL(λ)dλ The model captures the changes

Through adaptation the visual system functions over a lumi-
• from radiance to luminance: Ychophysical
= 683 lm/W experiments. nance range of nearly 14 log units, despite the fact that the
individual neural
Visual nounits thatvision
color make up the system have a re-
system’s mesopic range.
good
The color
rod and conevision
systems are sensitive to light with wave-
•  1 Watt of radiant energy at λ = 555innm equals to 683
threshold visibility, color appearance, visual acuity, and
lumens sponse range of only about 1.5 log units (Spillman 1990).
function poor acuity
Through four distinct adaptation mechanisms, the visual
lengths from about 400nm to 700nm. The rods have their
good acuity
sensitivity over time that are caused by the visual system’s system moderates the e⇥ects of changing levels of illumi-
peak sensitivity at approximately 505nm. Spectral sensitiv-
ity of the composite cone system peaks at approximately 555
adaptation mechanisms. We use the model to display the nation on visual response to provide sensitivity over a wide
range of ambient light levels.
nm. The rod and cone systems are not equally sensitive to
light at all wavelengths. Luminous efficiency functions show
results of global illumination simulations illuminated at in- Figure 1: The range of luminances in the natural environ- how e⇥ective light of a particular wavelength is as a visual
stimulus. Di⇥erences between the rod and cone systems lead
tensities ranging from daylight down to starlight. The re- ment
2.1 and associated visual parameters. After Hood (1986).
The pupil
to separate photopic and scotopic luminous efficiency func-
The most obvious mechanism available to regulate the tions that apply to typical daytime and nighttime illumi-
sulting images better capture the visual characteristics of amount of light stimulating the visual system is the pupil.
Over a 10 log unit range of luminance, the pupil changes in
nation levels. Figure 2 shows the normalized scotopic and
photopic luminous efficiency functions developed by the CIE
scenes viewed over a wide range of illumination levels. Be- diameter from approximately 7 mm down to about 2 mm (Wyszecki 1982).
(Pugh 1988). This range of variation produces a little more
cause the model is based on psychophysical data it can be Very little work has been done in computer graphics on
than a log unit change in retinal illuminance so pupillary ac-
tion alone is not sufficient to completely account for visual
used to predict the visibility and appearance of scene fea-
adaptation. Earlier work has focused 2.3 primarily on overcom-
adaptation (Spillman 1990). In fact, rather than playing

What the
Bleaching and regeneration of photopigments
a significant role in adaptation it is thought that variation

Colorimetry
tures. This allows the model to be used as the basis of ing the limits of conventional CRT displays and determin-
in pupil size serves to mitigate the visual consequences of
ing how to bestlight
perceptually-based error metrics for limiting the precision of display simulated environments reflectance
aberrations in the eye’s optical system. At high levels where
tosensitive pigments inwithin the
At high light intensities, the action of light depletes the pho-
there is plenty of light to see by, the pupil stops down to limit
the rods and cones at a faster rate

Eyes See
global illumination computations. limited dynamic range available. Tumblin the e⇥ects of the aberrations. At low levels where catching
receptors lessand
sensitiveRushmeier
than chemical processes can restore them. This makes the
enough light to allow detection is more essential than opti-
to light. This process is known as
CR Categories and Subject Descriptors: I.3.0
(1993) introduced the concept of tone reproduction to the
Science of color measurement
mizing the resolution of the retinal image, the pupil opens
pigment bleaching. Early theories of adaptation were based
“Light is not a thing that can
[Computer Graphics]: General; I.3.6 [Computer Graphics]:
computer graphics community and developed
to allow more light into the eye.
the idea that light adaptation was produced by pigment
bleaching and dark a adaptation
tone repro- was produced by pigment
be reproduced, but something
Methodology and Techniques. 2.2 The rod and cone systems
duction operator that preserves the
restoration
apparent
(Hecht 1934). However pigment bleaching can-
brightness oftwo reasons: first,
Color of an object determine Additional
not completely account for adaptation for

that has to be represented with

Key Words and Phrases: realistic image
There are somewhere between 75 and 150 million rod and 6
scene features.
to 7 million Ward
cone photoreceptors (1994)
in each retina (Riggshas
a substantial amount of adaptation takes place in both the
1971).taken
rod anda somewhat
cone systems at ambient differ-
levels where little bleach-

something else, with colors.”

The rods are extremely sensitive to light and provide achro- ing occurs (Granit 1939); and second, the time courses of
by reflected (i.e., not absorbed) synthesis, vision, visual perception, adaptation. entmatic
approach and
vision at scotopic
stimulus
has
levels developed
of illumination
6
a tone
ranging from
10 to 10 cd/m . The cones are less sensitive than the rods, 2
reproduction
the early opera-
phases of dark and light adaptation are too rapid
to be explained by photochemical processes alone (Crawford
– Paul Cézanne tor that preserves apparent contrast and
1947). visibility. Spencer
wavelengths
but provide color vision at photopic levels of illumination in

(1995) has developed a psychophysical model of glare and

1 Introduction
• white = all wavelengths or frequencies
• blue is 450 nm, green 540 nm, red 650 nm
The goal of realistic image synthesis is to produce im-
ages that capture the visual appearance of modeled scenes.
Color is not intrinsic in wavelength,
Physically-based rendering methods make it possible to ac-
curately simulate the distribution of light energy in scenes,
but related to how a collection of
but physical accuracy in rendering does not guarantee that
the displayed images will have a realistic visual appearance. multiply wavelength
photons with a spectral distribution derive from our model
There are at least two reasons for this. First, the range of
is interpreted by our eyes light energy in the scene may be vastly different from the
range that can be produced by the display device. Second,
the visual states of the scene observer and the display ob-
server may be very different.
To produce realistic images we need to model notDurand06
only
the physical behavior of light propagation, but also the pa-
rameters of perceptual response. This is particularly true
of the visual system’s adaptation to the range of light we
encounter in the natural environment since visual function
has implemented a glare filter that250increases the apparent
dynamic range of images.
The model of adaptation presented herein deals with
cone responses
many more visual parameters than dynamic range. We
develop a model that includes the effects of adaptation
on threshold visibility, color appearance, visual acuity, and
changes in visual sensitivity over time. The algorithm we
is based on the psychophysics of adap-
by wavelength
tation measured in experimental studies. Therefore, it can
be used predictively for illumination engineering work, and
can be used to develop perceptually-based approaches to ren-
dering and integrate
display.
1.1 Background
The range of light energy we experience in the course of a
day is vast. The light of the noonday sun can be as much
 Color Blindness Color Dimensions
Classical case: 1 type of cone is missing (e.g., red) Cones do not “see” colors
Now project onto a lower-dimension space (2D) • they just respond to intensities of different wavelengths
Makes it impossible to distinguish some spectra
A physical spectrum is a complex function of
wavelengths

An arbitrary spectrum is infinitely dimensional
• but our eye-response has only three dimensions

How can we encode an infinite dimensional

spectrum with just three dimensions?
•  we can’t: information is lost we’re all color blind!
differentiated same responses
Durand06 Schulze08

Color Representation Metamers

Our ability to respond to only three
primary colors is good news for computers Metamers: when cones give the same response to
•  only need three values to reproduce
the full color spectrum visible to humans!
different spectra
von Helmholtz 1859
•  imagine how much more expensive a display
Orange

Yellow

would be if each pixel must encode 6 values

Green
Violet
Blue

Red

instead of 3, how much more storage,

bandwidth, etc.


Receptor Responses

Trichromatic Theory:
Perceived color: red = Perceived color: red
•  claims that any color can be represented
as a weighted sum of three primary colors
•  proposed red, green, blue as primaries
•  developed in the 18th, 19th century
(before the discovery of photoreceptor cells!) 400 500 600 700

Durand06
Wavelengths (nm) Schulze08
Color Matching Color Matching Experiment
Metamers allows for color matching experiment Result: RGB amounts needed to match all
•  reproduce the color of any reference light with the wavelengths of the visible spectrum:
addition of three given primary lights
•  how strong must each of the three primaries be for a certain colors The tristimulus values
match? (known as tristimulus weight or value) cannot be were determined
reproduced
•  if no match can be obtained, add by RGB mixes
experimentally c. 1920
a primary to reference (negative weight) by the CIE (Commission
Internationale de
l’Eclairage (Illumination))

Durand06

Grassman’s Laws Color Spaces

Color vision is linear and 3D, any color space based on color
matching can be described by a “coordinate system” with 3 basis
For color matches, where u, v, w are colors Lots of different color spaces related by matrix transforms!
•  symmetry: u = v ⇔ v = u •  full spectrum
•  allows any radiation (visible or invisible) to be described
•  transitivity: u = v and v = w u = w •  usually unnecessary and impractical

•  proportionality: u = v ⇔ tu = tv •  RGB
•  convenient for display (CRT uses red, green, and blue phosphors)
•  additivity: if any two of the statements: •  not very intuitive
u = v, w = x, (u+w) = (v+x) are true, so is the third •  HSV
•  an intuitive color space
•  these are natural laws and they mean
•  Hue is cyclic so HSV is a non-linear transformation of RGB
additive color matching is linear
•  CIE XYZ
•  a linear transform of RGB used by color scientists
•  Why not use the L, M, S cone responses as the basis?
•  not discovered until the 1980s …
Forsyth&Ponce
 Additive Primaries: RGB Subtractive Primaries: CMY
http://www.jgiesen.de/ColorTheory/RGBColorApplet/rgbcolorapplet.html http://www.jgiesen.de/ColorTheory/CMYColorApplet/cmycolorapplet.html

yellow (1,1,0) red (1,0,0)

red yellow
(1,0,0) green (1,1,0)
magenta
(0,1,0) (1,0,1)

black
(0,0,0)
white
(1,1,1)

magenta cyan green blue

(1,0,1) (0,1,1) (0,1,0) (0,0,1 )

blue (0,0,1) cyan

(0,1,1)

Riesenfeld 2006 Riesenfeld 2006

CMY(K) Color Model Problems with RGB

Typical inks: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, (blacK)
•  the pigments remove parts of the spectrum M
Non-intuitive: how much R, G, and B is there in
pigment absorbs reflects
Magenta
(0,1,0) Blue
“brown”? (answer: .64, .16, .16)
(1,1,0)
cyan red blue and green
Black
Grayscale

Represent only a small range of human

Red (1,1,1)

magenta green blue and red

(0,1,1)

Cyan
(1,0,0)
perceptible colors (not perceptually based)
yellow blue red and green

C
White
(0,0,0)

black all none
Yellow Green
(1,0,1)
Perceptually non-linear
black ink used to ensure high quality printed black
(0,0,1)
•  the perceived difference between two colors is not
consistently proportional to their separation in the
Y
•  complements of RGB blue
(0,0,1 ) cyan
(0,1,1)

⎡ C ⎤ ⎡ 1 ⎤ ⎡ R ⎤
magenta
(1,0,1)
white
(1,1,1)
color space
⎢ ⎥=⎢ ⎥−⎢ ⎥
⎢ M ⎥ ⎢ 1 ⎥ ⎢ G ⎥
⎢⎣ Y ⎥⎦ ⎢⎣ 1 ⎥⎦ ⎢⎣ B ⎥⎦
White minus Blue minus Green = Red
red yellow
(1,0,0) (1,1,0) Hodgins Chenney
 HSV Color Model HSV: Non-linear Distortion
of the RGB Color Cube green
V=1, S=0 V
What do we perceive? 120˚ yellow
•  Hue (or chromaticity): what color is it? S=1
•  red vs. green vs. blue Top of HSV hexcone corresponds cyan 1.0 white
red
•  Saturation (or purity or chroma): to the projection of the RGB color 0˚
how non-gray is it? cube along the principal diagonal blue
•  the main diagonal of RGB space 240˚ magenta
•  vivid red vs. pastel grayish pink
•  Value (or luminance or intensity): V=0 becomes the V axis of the HSV space
how bright is it? The RGB cube has subcubes H
•  perceived intensity reflected by object black 0.0 S
•  the term “brightness” is used only for emitters Each plane of constant V in Riesenfeld
Green Yellow
e.g., light-bulbs HSV space corresponds to Blue Cyan

a view of a subcube of RGB

HLS: represented as a double space Cyan
White
Red Magenta White
cone with black at the bottom Green

and white at the top

Blue Magenta Red Yellow
Rossignac,Hodgins,Gillies,wikipedia Foley, van Dam 90

Artist’s Color Model

Artists discuss color (hue) in terms of:

Traditional, Artistic: Perceptually Based:
•  Tint: strength of color RGB XYZ (Tristimulus)
•  the amount of white added to CMY(K) xyY
pure pigment to decrease saturation HSV Hunter-Lab
HLS CIE-L*u’v’
•  Shade: brightness of color CIE-L*a*b*
•  the amount of black added to CIE-L*CH°
decrease lightness (value) Any set of real lights
James07
would need negative
•  Tone: weighting to cover the
•  the amount of black and white whole visible light
added to a pure pigment (given hue) spectrum

Riesenfeld 2006
 CIE XYZ Color Space Recall: Color Matching Experiment
Standardized by the International Commission on
Certain visible colors cannot
Illumination (Commission Internationale de l’Éclairage)
be reproduced by RGB mixes
• defines three “imaginary” primary lights (X, Y, Z) representing
an imaginary basis that does not correspond to human
perception of color
•  color c = X X + Y Y + Z Z

• all visible colors can be matched with

positive X, Y, and Z they are in the
positive octant of the XYZ space
• provides a standard for sharing color
information between disciplines, e.g., All visible colors can be matched
computer graphics and fabric design with positive X, Y, and Z
RTR3
Durand06

2D Visualization of CIE Color Space 2D Visualization of CIE Color Space

Given a color c = X X + Y Y + Z Z Then map it to a 2D chromaticity diagram
It’s cumbersome to visualize it in 3D by dropping the z coordinate
Want a 2D representation:
First map it to a triangle in 3D:
X Y Z
x= ; y= ; z=
X +Y + Z X +Y + Z X +Y + Z
x + y + z = 1 and x, y, z ≥ 0,
i.e., x, y, and z are coefficients of a FvD

convex combination and the point

is in the (X + Y + Z = 1) plane RTR3
CIE Chromaticity Color Gamut
Diagram
The color gamut of a device is the convex hull defined
The horseshoe region ideal green by the convex combinations of its primary colors
represents all visible 520 nm
540 nm • a device can only produce
chromaticity values 510 nm
colors within its color gamut
560 nm
green •  different devices have
•  all perceivable colors
with the same different color gamuts
500 nm 580 nm
chromaticity but different •  to match gamuts between
yellow devices can be difficult
luminance map into the 600 nm

same point within this region cyan white • points outside a gamut
•  shaded area: color 490 nm
red 700 nm
correspond to negative
blue weights of the primaries
found in nature
magenta
FvD
ideal blue 400 nm ideal red
Riesenfeld,TP3

HSV ↔ CIE XYZ ED

Energy
RGB ↔ CIE XYZ
Hue (chromaticity)
•  the dominant wavelength/frequency,
EW
RGB color model
identified by drawing a line from •  additive primaries cλ = R R + G G + B B
c (white) to spectral color
•  c6 cs
Red fD Violet
Frequency
•  is contained within the CIE XYZ color space
•  c7 is nonspectral, cannot be identified with Y
a dominant wavelength, instead the dominant 520 Spectral Colors
c
wavelength is the complement of cc c c
Saturation (chroma) cc
cs
blue cyan
(0,0,1)
•  “purity” of the color, distance from c (white) Green Yellow (0,1,1)
magenta
to spectral color c6 (1,0,1) white
•  c4 very pure (1,1,1)
Red
•  c6 not so pure c gray
c4
White
Value (brightness/lightness) 700 black green
c7
•  perceived luminance (intensity) Blue c (Red)
(0,0,0)
(0,1,0)
cc
•  lightness: reflecting objects Magenta red yellow Watt 2002
•  brightness: emitting objects (1,0,0) (1,1,0)
•  not represented (not representable) in 2D 400 (Violet) X Riesenfeld 2006
RGB Color Gamut sRGB ↔ CIE XYZ Transforms
G RGB
520
54 0 Color
sRGB: RGB with standard conversion to CIE XYZ
510
Gamut ⎡ X ⎤ ⎡ 0.4124 0.3576 0.1805 ⎤ ⎡ R ⎤
560 ⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥⎢ ⎥
⎢ Y ⎥ = ⎢ 0.2126 0.7151 0.0721 ⎥ ⎢ G ⎥
50 0 ⎢⎣ Z ⎥⎦ ⎢⎣ 0.0193 0.1192 0.9505 ⎥⎦ ⎢⎣ B ⎥⎦
580

60 0 ⎡ R ⎤ ⎡ 3.2410 −1.5374 −0.4986 ⎤ ⎡ X ⎤

⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥⎢ ⎥
⎢ G ⎥ = ⎢ −0.9692 1.8760 0.0416 ⎥ ⎢ Y ⎥
490 70 0 ⎢⎣ B ⎥⎦ ⎢⎣ 0.0556 −0.2040 1.0570 ⎥⎦ ⎢⎣ Z ⎥⎦

RTR3 R • each matrix is the inverse of the other

40 0
B Riesenfeld
• Y encodes luminance; to go from color to gray:
Y = 0.213 R + 0.712 G + 0.072 B
RGB chromaticity coordinates: • grayscale intensity (Y ) is not equal parts RGB because to
R = (0.735, 0.265)
G = (0.274, 0.717)
the eye, the intensity of red and green contribute more
B = (0.167, 0.009) than that of blue to overall perceived brightness
Chenney

Pyschophysics YIQ Color Model

Humans are Luminous Efficiency Curve For NTSC color TV
•  not so sensitivity to low Separate luminance from chrominance
frequencies •  we perceive brightness ranges
•  more sensitive to medium better than color ranges, so give
to high frequencies it more bandwidth (samples):
Y: 4.5 MHz, I: 1.5 MHz, Q: 0.6 MHz
Separate intensity from •  backward compatibility:
the color of a pixel: B&W TV displays only
•  reduce the contrast the Y component
of low frequencies
•  two colors on B&W with
•  but keep the color
different luminance show
up as different grades of gray Merrell08

Freeman&Durand06
RGB ↔ YIQ xyY Coordinate
brightness ⎡Y ⎤ ⎡ 0.299 0.587 0.144 ⎤ ⎡ R ⎤ 1.0 Y The chromaticity diagram
⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥⎢ ⎥ Spectral Colors does not represent a
I ⎥ = ⎢ 0.596 −0.275 −0.321 ⎥ ⎢ G ⎥ 0 .9
color ⎢ 520 complete color palette:
⎢⎣ Q ⎥⎦ ⎢⎣ 0.212 −0.528 0.311 ⎥⎦ ⎣⎢ B ⎥⎦ 0 .8 54 0

0 .7 510
green 560 •  doesn’t account for color
⎡ R ⎤ ⎡ 1 0.9563 0.6210 ⎤ ⎡ Y ⎤ 0 .6 changes due to luminance
⎢ ⎥=⎢ ⎥⎢ ⎥ •  brown, which is orange-red with
⎢ G ⎥ ⎢ 1 −0.2721 −0.6474 ⎥ ⎢ I ⎥ 0 .5 50 0
yellow
580
low luminance, is not represented
⎢⎣ B ⎥⎦ ⎢⎣ 1 −1.1070 1.7046 ⎥⎦ ⎢⎣ Q ⎥⎦ 0 .4 cyan
60 0 •  to recover full palette add
0 .3 490 white
• for modern CRT and HDTV: blue
red 70 0 back luminance: (x,y,Y )
Y = 0.2125 R + 0.7154 G + 0.0721 B 0 .2
magenta x (1− x − y)
X = Y, Y = Y, Z = Y
comparable to sRGB: 0 .1
40 0 X y y
Y = 0.213 R + 0.712 G + 0.072 B
0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7
Riesenfeld 2006

Characteristics of Color Spaces Perceptual Non-linearity

Perceptually Perceptually Device MacAdam ellipses:

Color Space Intuitive? regions in CIE xy color
based? linear? independent?
HSV ✔ ✗ ✗ ✗ space that are perceived
RGB ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ as the same color (based
CMY ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ on a 1942 experiment)
•  in perceptually uniform color
CIE XYZ ✗ ✔ ✗ ✔
space, the ellipses should be
CIE L*u’v’ ✗ ✔ ✔
✔ ✔ circles
CIE L*a*b* ✗ ✔ ✔
✔ ✔
TP3

Schulze,Schubert
 Perceptually Uniform Color Spaces
Two major color spaces standardized by the CIE
CIE L*a*b*
• designed so that equal steps in coordinates produce equally Perceptually uniform -a
visible differences in color
color space:
• L*u’v’: non-linear color space that gives perceptual linearity: •  L*: luminance
MacAdam ellipses now look more like circles •  a*: red-green
•  b*: blue-yellow
⎡ ⎤ 1 ⎡ 4X ⎤
⎢ u′ ⎥ = ⎢ ⎥ •  the ‘*’s are to differentiate it from
⎣ v ′ ⎦ X + 15Y + 3Z ⎣ 9Y ⎦ Hunter-Lab color space . . .
• L*a*b*: more complex but
more uniform
Non-linear conversion
• both separate luminance between CIE XYZ and
(L*) from chromaticity CIE L*a*b*

James,Chenney,Schubert

Opponent Color Theory Opponent Color Theory

Since the cones respond to overlapping The brain seems to encode color using three axes:
wavelengths, the visual system can more efficiently white – black, red – green, yellow – blue
record the differences between total cone responses, • the white – black axis determines luminance
instead of individual cone’s responses (V or Y ), the others determine chromaticity
• first proposed in the 19th century, physiological
The 0th, 1st, 2nd derivatives of a Gaussian weighting evidence in the 1950s
function of the wavelengths are similar to the
luminance, blue-yellow, and red-green weighting You can have light green, dark green,
functions found in the human visual system yellow-green (chartreuse), or a
blue-green (teal), but not reddish green
red is the opponent to green
James,Schulze,Bratkova et al., Adelson&Bergen James,Schulze,Bratkova et al., Adelson&Bergen