Modifying Images for Color Blind Viewers

This paper explores different methods of adjusting images such that viewers suffering from dichromacy are able to better perceive image detail and color dynamics. In particular, we select deuteranopia, a type of dichromacy where the patient does not naturally develop “green”, or medium wavelength, cones in his or her eyes. This comparison considers three algorithms for this type of image processing; they are LMS daltonization, color contrast enhancement, and LAB color adjustment. Two separate processing algorithms serve to evaluate the effectiveness of these adjustment techniques. First we simulate deuteranopia on both the original and processed images to see the algorithm’s effects from the perspective of a color blind viewer. Second, we calculate the delta E value between the two images in order to assess how greatly the image changes from the perspective of a non-color blind viewer. Color contrast enhancement provides the greatest advantage to color blind viewers, but also changes the image most significantly for non-color blind viewers. LAB color adjustment has the least effect in both cases, and LMS daltonization falls in between the other two techniques.