Abstract
Vision provides information about the properties and identity of objects. The ease with which we perceive object properties belies the difficulty of the underlying information-processing task. In the case of object color, retinal information about object reflectance is confounded with information about the illumination as well as about the object's shape and pose. There is no obvious rule that allows transformation of the retinal image to a color representation that depends primarily on object surface reflectance. Under many circumstances, however, object color appearance is remarkably stable across scenes in which the object is viewed. Here, we review a line of experiments and theory that aim to understand how the visual system stabilizes object color appearance. Our emphasis is on models derived from explicit analysis of the computational problem of estimating the physical properties of illuminants and surfaces from the retinal image, and experiments that test these models. We argue that this approach has considerable promise for allowing generalization from simplified laboratory experiments to richer scenes that more closely approximate natural viewing. We discuss the relation between the work we review and other theoretical approaches available in the literature.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1-18 |
| Number of pages | 18 |
| Journal | Journal of Vision |
| Volume | 11 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2011 |
Fingerprint
Keywords
- Color constancy
- Computational models
- Equivalent illumination model
- Lightness constancy
- Object surface perception
- Surface color perception
- Surface lightness perception
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Ophthalmology
- Sensory Systems
Cite this
Surface color perception and equivalent illumination models. / Brainard, David H.; Maloney, Laurence T.
In: Journal of Vision, Vol. 11, No. 5, 2011, p. 1-18.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Surface color perception and equivalent illumination models
AU - Brainard, David H.
AU - Maloney, Laurence T.
PY - 2011
Y1 - 2011
N2 - Vision provides information about the properties and identity of objects. The ease with which we perceive object properties belies the difficulty of the underlying information-processing task. In the case of object color, retinal information about object reflectance is confounded with information about the illumination as well as about the object's shape and pose. There is no obvious rule that allows transformation of the retinal image to a color representation that depends primarily on object surface reflectance. Under many circumstances, however, object color appearance is remarkably stable across scenes in which the object is viewed. Here, we review a line of experiments and theory that aim to understand how the visual system stabilizes object color appearance. Our emphasis is on models derived from explicit analysis of the computational problem of estimating the physical properties of illuminants and surfaces from the retinal image, and experiments that test these models. We argue that this approach has considerable promise for allowing generalization from simplified laboratory experiments to richer scenes that more closely approximate natural viewing. We discuss the relation between the work we review and other theoretical approaches available in the literature.
AB - Vision provides information about the properties and identity of objects. The ease with which we perceive object properties belies the difficulty of the underlying information-processing task. In the case of object color, retinal information about object reflectance is confounded with information about the illumination as well as about the object's shape and pose. There is no obvious rule that allows transformation of the retinal image to a color representation that depends primarily on object surface reflectance. Under many circumstances, however, object color appearance is remarkably stable across scenes in which the object is viewed. Here, we review a line of experiments and theory that aim to understand how the visual system stabilizes object color appearance. Our emphasis is on models derived from explicit analysis of the computational problem of estimating the physical properties of illuminants and surfaces from the retinal image, and experiments that test these models. We argue that this approach has considerable promise for allowing generalization from simplified laboratory experiments to richer scenes that more closely approximate natural viewing. We discuss the relation between the work we review and other theoretical approaches available in the literature.
KW - Color constancy
KW - Computational models
KW - Equivalent illumination model
KW - Lightness constancy
KW - Object surface perception
KW - Surface color perception
KW - Surface lightness perception
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=80051737666&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=80051737666&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1167/11.5.1
DO - 10.1167/11.5.1
M3 - Article
VL - 11
SP - 1
EP - 18
JO - Journal of Vision
JF - Journal of Vision
SN - 1534-7362
IS - 5
ER -