Demonstration of color constancy in photographs by two techniques: Stereoscope and D-up viewer

Abstract

When we look, under daylight, at a scene in a photograph taken under an incandescent lamp, it appears very reddish, showing that color constancy is not maintained. According to the recognized visual space of illumination (RVSI) concept, color constancy should exist in a photograph if one can perceive three dimensions in it. This prediction was confirmed by applying two viewing techniques to perceive a 3D space in a 2D photograph: a stereoscope viewed with two eyes and a D-up viewer viewed with one eye. A wide range of illumination color was investigated, covering range from vivid blue through to vivid orange, and the color constancy index became larger with the 3D perception than with the 2D perception of the photographs produced by the two techniques.