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Description / Abstract:
INTRODUCTION
Many users of high quality colour printers complain that the
colour reproduced on hardcopy does not always match the original
softcopy images previewed on a self-luminous display. Such
complaints arise even when colour management systems are used in
the reproduction technology. There are several possible causes for
these problems such as the instability of the colour reproduction
in the input and output devices or the inaccuracy of the colour
characterization. This report focuses on another potential problem
- the difficulty of determining the state of chromatic adaptation
of the observer.
The use of colour management systems to reproduce colour images
is commonplace in colour imaging industries and is also found in
the consumer marketplace. For example, in the pre-press industry
hardcopy images are often reproduced and viewed on a computer
monitor as a soft proof prior to making a final print. Because
colours appear differently when viewed under different viewing
conditions, and viewing configurations of various media differ from
one another, the colour appearance of the reproduction of the image
on the monitor does not generally match that of the original
hardcopy print. In this case, to achieve an accurate cross-media
colour reproduction, one needs a colour appearance model (CAM),
which is capable of predicting the corresponding colours from one
set of viewing conditions to another. In general, CAMs comprise
three parts: a chromatic adaptation transform, perceptual
correlates, and a uniform colour space. Of these three, the
chromatic adaptation transform plays a vital role for accommodating
between two different illuminations in two media viewing
conditions.
The chromatic adaptation transforms (CATs) used in most CAMs
assume that observers are fully adapted to a given set of viewing
conditions. That is, the chromatic adaptation transform is designed
to reproduce the appearance as seen by an observer who is fully
adapted to an original viewing condition after that observer has
fully adapted to a second viewing condition. The requirement of
complete chromatic adaptation allows for more rigorous and
reproducible results. Such a requirement is perfectly appropriate
for laboratory research and for industry use by informed and
trained professionals. This requires, for example, that observers
view a softcopy image in an environment where the display luminance
is higher than any ambient illuminant. Further, observers must take
several minutes to adapt to the softcopy viewing conditions.
Unfortunately, the condition of complete chromatic adaptation
usually does not occur in the consumer market and in more casual
industrial use. Instead, these users tend to view softcopy in a
room with sufficient ambient illumination to allow comfortable
viewing and examination of hardcopy imaging. Further, users often
desire to compare hardcopy and softcopy images using rapid
successive binocular observations. To put it simply, they glance
back and forth between the softcopy and the hardcopy display.
In 1998, Technical Committee 8-04 was formed in CIE Division 8
(Image Technology), "to investigate the state of
adaptation of the visual system when comparing softcopy images on
self-luminous displays and hard copy images viewed under various
ambient lighting conditions". The focus of this report is to
determine how colour imaging experts can best accommodate the
desires and practices of these more casual observers. TC members
realized that the results would necessarily be more approximate
than those typical of CIE reports. By design, our experimental
conditions did not achieve the degree of rigour typically
associated with colour science. Despite this, we were able to
achieve several useful results. We determined that accounting for
mixed and incomplete chromatic adaptation (the terms will be
defined below) produced more accurate results in colour appearance
than not accounting for them. We determined a mathematical model
for chromatic adaptation that accounts for our experimental results
and integrates well with other CIE work on appearance models.
Finally, we determined appropriate parameters for the chromatic
adaptation model.