Chapter 6 : Color Image
Processing
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Color Fundamentals
Spectrum that covers visible colors : 400 ~ 700 nm
Three basic quantities
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Radiance : energy that flows from the light source (measured in
Watts)
Luminance : a measure of energy an observer perceives from a
light source (in lumens)
Brightness : a subjective descriptor difficult to measure
6-1
About human eyes
Primary colors for standardization
Not all visible colors can be
produced by mixing these three
primaries in various intensity
proportions
Cones in human eyes are divided
into three sensing categories
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blue : 435.8 nm, green : 546.1 nm, red : 700
nm
65% are sensitive to red light, 33%
sensitive to green light, 2% sensitive to
blue (but most sensitive)
The R, G, and B colors perceived by
human eyes cover a range of spectrum
6-2
Primary and secondary colors
of light and pigments
Secondary colors of light
Primary colors of pigments
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magenta (R+B), cyan (G+B),
yellow (R+G)
R+G+B=white
magenta, cyan, and yellow
M+C+Y=black
6-3
Chromaticity
Hue + saturation = chromaticity
hue : an attribute associated with the dominant wavelength or
dominant colors perceived by an observer
saturation : relative purity or the amount of white light mixed with
a hue (the degree of saturation is inversely proportional to the
amount of added white light)
Color = brightness + chromaticity
Tristimulus values (the amount of R, G, and B needed to
form any particular color : X, Y, Z
trichromatic coefficients :
x = X /( X + Y + Z )
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y = Y /( X + Y + Z )
z = Z /( X + Y + Z )
6-4
Chromaticity diagram
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Show color composition as a
function of x, y, and z
Spectrum colors are indicated
around the boundary of the
tongue-shaped chromaticity
diagram
Point of equal energy : equal
fractions of three primary colors
CIE defined white light
Points located on the boundary of
chromaticity diagram are fully
saturated -- the saturation at the
center point is zero
6-5
Chromaticity diagram (cont.)
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A straight line segment joining
any two points defines all color
variations of the combination of
them
No three colors in the diagram
can span the whole color space
-- not all colors can be obtained
with three single and fixed
primaries
The color gamut produced by
RGB monitors
The color printing gamut is
irregularly-shaped
6-6
Color models, Color space
A color model is a specification of a coordinate
system within which each color is represented by a
single point
Hardware-oriented color models
Application-oriented color model
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e.g., color monitors and printers
RGB, CMY (cyan, magenta, yellow), CMYK (+black)
HSI (hue, saturation, intensity)
6-7
RGB color model
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Each color appears in its primary spectral
components of R, G, and B
Based on a Cartesian coordinate system (cube)
6-8
CMY and CMYK color models
Useful in color printers and copiers
Conversion between RGB and CMY
C 1 R
M = 1 G
Y 1 B
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In practice, combining CMY colors produces a
muddy-looking black. To produce true black, a
forth color, black, is added CMYK color model
6-9
HSI color model
RGB, CMY, and similar others are not practical for
human interpretation
Hue : a color attribute that describes a pure color
Saturation : a measure of the degree to which a pure
color is diluted by white light
Derivation of HSI from RGB color cube
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All points contained in the plane segment defined by the
intensity axis (i.e., from black to white) and one color point
on the boundaries of the cube have the same hue
6-10
HSI color model (cont)
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The HSI space is represented
by a vertical intensity axis,
the length (saturation) of a
vector from the axis to a
color point, and the angle
(hue) this vector makes with
the red axis
The power of HSI color
model is to allow
independent control over hue,
saturation, and intensity
6-11
Conversion between RGB and
HSI
From RGB to HSI
H =
360
if B G
2 [( R G ) + ( R B )]
=
cos
2
1/ 2
if B > G
[( R G ) + ( R B)(G B)]
3
1
[min( R, G, B)]
s = 1
I = ( R + G + B)
( R + G + B)
3
From HSI to RGB
RG sector (0<H<120)
B = I (1 S )
G = 3I ( R + B )
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S cos H
R = I [1 +
]
o
cos(60 H )
6-12
Conversion between RGB and
HSI (cont)
GB sector (120<H<240)
R = I (1 S )
H = H 120o
S cos H
G = I [1 +
] B = 3I ( R + G )
o
cos(60 H )
BR sector (240<H<360)
H = H 240o
G = I (1 S )
S cos H
B = I [1 +
] R = 3 I (G + B )
o
cos(60 H )
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6-13
HSI RGB
RGB
HSI
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6-14
YUV color model
YUV color model has been used in PAL TV systems.
The luminance Y can be determined from RGB model
as Y = 0.299 R + 0.587G + 0.114 B
The other two chrominance components, U and V, are
defined as color difference as
U = 0.493( B Y )
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V = 0.877( R Y )
For Completeness, an expression of YUV in terms of
RGB is listed below
0.587
0.114 R
Y 0.299
U = 0.147 0.289 0.436 G
V 0.615 0.515 0.100 B
6-15
YCbCr color model
It is noted that U and V may be negative as well.
In order to make chrominance components nonnegative, the Y,
U and V are shifted to produce the YCbCr model, which is
used in the international coding standards JPEG and MPEG
0.504
0.098 R 16
Y 0.257
Cr = 0.439 0.368 0.071 G + 128
Cb 0.148 0.291 0.439 B 128
The inverse operation
R ' = 1.164(Y 16) + 1.596(Cr 128)
G ' = 1.164(Y 16) 0.813(Cr 128) 0.392(Cb 128)
B ' = 1.164(Y 16) + 2.017(Cb 128)
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Reference:
B.G. Haskell, A. Puri, A.N. Netravali, Digital Video: An introduction to MPEG-2, Chapman & Hail, 1997
Y.Q. Shi, H. Sun, Image and Video compression for multimedia engineering, CRC press, 1999
6-16
Conversion between YUV and
YCbCr
From YUV to YCbCr
0
0 Y 16
Y 0.860
U + 128
Cb = 0
1
.
007
0
Cr 0
0
0.714 V 128
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6-17
Gray level to color
transformation -- pseudocolor
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Three independent transformation on
the graylevels, i.e., establish a color
mapping system for graylevels
Some standardized CMSs exist, e.g.,
ironball for infrared image display
If all three transforms are the same -->
monchrome
6-18
Effect of different gray to color
transformations
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6-19
Color composition for multispectral images
Often used in display of
multi-spectral satellite
images
Map three bands out of
multi-spectra into RGB for
color display
RGB = (red, green, blue)
RGB = (near IR, green, blue)
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6-20
Full-color image processing
Full-color and interpretations of its various colorspace components
Method 1
Method 2
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Process each component image individually and form a
composite processed color image from the individually
processed components
Work with color pixels directly
6-21
There is a discontinuity in
HSI model where 0 and 360
of hue meet
Hue is undefined for 0
saturation
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6-22
Color transformation
Transform a vector in color space to another
vector -- color mapping function
si = Ti ( r1 , r2 ,..., rn ),
Transformation on a per-color-component basis
si = Ti (ri ),
i = 1,2,..., n
Some operations are better suited to specific
models
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i = 1,2,..., n
Modify pixel intensity HSI is suitable (but the cost
for conversion from RGB or CMY to HSI is costly)
6-23
Color complements
Saturation should be
altered to implement
complement
Color circle
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Approximation only
6-24
Color slicing
Highlighting a specific range of colors in an image
0.5,
si =
if rj a j >
2 any 1 j n
ri
otherwise
0.5, if
si =
ri
(r
j=1
a j ) 2 > R02
i = 1,2,...n
otherwise
(a1, a2, ,an) is the prototype
or average color
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6-25
Device-independent color
model (CIE L*a*b* model)
Unlike RGB and CMY which are specific for certain
devices (monitors and printers)
Characteristics of L*a*b* color model
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The choice for many color management system (CMS)
Being colorimetric
Perceptually uniform (color differences are perceived uniformly)
Device-independent
Encompass the entire visible spectrum and can represent accurately
the colors of any display, print, or input device
An excellent decoupler of intensity (L*) and color (a* : red minus
green, b* : green minus blue), making it useful in both image
manipulation and image compression applications
6-26
CIE L*a*b* model
Y
YW
L = 116 h
16
X Y
h
a* = 500 h
X W YW
Y Z
*
b = 200 h h
YW ZW
3 q ,
q > 0.008856
h( q ) =
7.787 q + 16 / 116 q 0.008856
( X W , YW , ZW ) are reference white tristimulas values and X,
Y, and Z are tristimulas values of any color
The degree to which the luminance is separated from the
color in L*a*b* is greater than in other color models
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6-27
Color image tonal correction
Tonal correction to provide a proper key (tone) of
an image (just like to correct the brightness of a
graytone image)
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Hue of color is not changed
For RGB and CMYK -- map all color components with
the same transformation function
For HSI only the intensity component is modified
6-28
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Tonal correction
6-29
Color image histogram
equalization
Modify brightness and contrast without
influencing the hue and saturation
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Operation on intensity component only (e.g., HSI
model)
Adjustment of hue or saturation is common when
working with the intensity component in HSI
space since change in intensity usually affect the
relative appearance of colors in an image
6-30
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Histogram equalization
6-31
Color balancing
correction
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To reduce magenta
remove both red and
blue or add green
The color ring is useful
as a reference tool for
identifying color
printing problem
6-32
Color image smoothing
B = I (1 S )
Smoothing on independent R, G, and B planes
S cos H
]
[
1
R
=
I
+
Smoothing on intensity plane of HSI model
cos(60o H )
The above two results are different
G = 3I ( R + B )
When I increases with B, R, and G
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6-33
Color image sharpening
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Sharpening on independent R, G, and B planes
Sharpening on intensity plane of HSI model
The above two results are different
6-34
Color segmentation -- in HSI
space
To extract image regions that
have desired range of colors
processing on hue image
saturation image is used as
masking to isolate ROI
less frequently used for
intensity image
Binary saturation
mask
Grayscale histogramming of (f)
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6-35
Color segmentation -- in RGB
space
Measure color similarity in terms of
Euclidean distance
within spherical, elliptical, or bounded box
region
1
D ( z, a) = z a or [( z a) C ( z a)]
T
1
2
C : covariance matrix
Get much more accurate result than in HSI
space
result
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6-36
Color edge detection
Gradient operation defined on color vectors
R
G
B
R
G
B
r+
g+
b
v=
r+
g+
b
x
x
x
y
y
y
2
2
2
2
2
2
R
G
B
R
G
B
g
=
v
v
=
+
+
+
g xx = u u =
+
yy
y
y
y
x
x
x
u=
R R G G B B
+
+
x y x y x y
r,g,b : Unit vectors along R, G, and B axes
2 g xy
1
1
= tan
(
g
g
)
2
: direction of maximum change
xx
yy
g xy = u v =
F ( ) = ( g xx + g yy ) + ( g xx g yy ) cos 2 + 2 g xy sin 2
2
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1
2
F() : Rate of change (gradient)
6-37
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Computing the gradients on individual images and
then adding them to form a composite gradient
image will lead to different results from those
obtained by gradient operation on color vectors
Edge detail of the vector gradient image is more
complete
More computational burden for vector gradient
operation
6-38
Vector gradient
Individual gradients
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difference
6-39
Noise in color images
How noise carries over when converting from one
color model to another
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Fine grain noise tends to be less visually noticeable in a
color image than it is in a monochrome image
Significantly degrade the hue and saturation
components of the noisy images, but slightly smooth
out the intensity image (since I=(R+G+B)/3)
6-40
Less visually
noticeable
HSI model
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6-41
When only one RGB channel is affected by noise,
conversion to HSI spreads the noise to all HSI component
images
Noise on green
channel
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6-42
