Hue constrained matrix optimization for preferred color reproduction

A method for preferred color reproduction with a psychophysical study based upon a real-life scene demonstrated application is presented. A color correction matrix optimization algorithm is first introduced which applies additional hue constraints on top of the CIE delta E magnitude error to emphasize the importance of hue in the subjective quality of color reproduction. An application is implemented by applying matrices optimized for the three dominant memory colors: skin, sky and green based on each pixel’s categorical classification which is obtained through an explicitly defined boundary model. A psychophysical study was carried out to systematically investigate observers’ hue preference in terms of the reproduction of individual memory colors as well as when multiple memory colors exist in the scene simultaneously. Conclusions suggest that observers’ preference for individual memory colors is consistent with regard to scene composition. When a scene with multiple memory colors is evaluated, skin is given the highest priority in the overall preference scale, followed by sky and then green. In practice, the optimized preferred color reproduction may be achieved by first locating the matrices for individual memory colors through a rank order study, and then applying them based on each pixel’s classification. © 2012 SPIE and IS&T. [DOI: 10.1117/1.JEI.21.3.033021]