Gray Axis Research Articles

Color Control Functions for Multiprimary Displays I: Robustness Analysis and Optimization Formulations.

Color management for a multiprimary display requires, as a fundamental step, the determination of a color control function (CCF) that specifies control values for reproducing each color in the display's gamut. Multiprimary displays offer alternative choices of control values for reproducing a color in the interior of the gamut and accordingly alternative choices of CCFs. Under ideal conditions, alternative CCFs render colors identically. However, deviations in the spectral distributions of the primaries and the diversity of cone sensitivities among observers impact alternative CCFs differently, and, in particular, make some CCFs prone to artifacts in rendered images. We develop a framework for analyzing robustness of CCFs for multiprimary displays against primary and observer variations, incorporating a common model of human color perception. Using the framework, we propose analytical and numerical approaches for determining robust CCFs. First, via analytical development, we: (a) demonstrate that linearity of the CCF in tristimulus space endows it with resilience to variations, particularly, linearity can ensure invariance of the gray axis, (b) construct an axially linear CCF that is defined by the property of linearity over constant chromaticity loci, and (c) obtain an analytical form for the axially linear CCF that demonstrates it is continuous but suffers from the limitation that it does not have continuous derivatives. Second, to overcome the limitation of the axially linear CCF, we motivate and develop two variational objective functions for optimization of multiprimary CCFs, the first aims to preserve color transitions in the presence of primary/observer variations and the second combines this objective with desirable invariance along the gray axis, by incorporating the axially linear CCF. A companion Part II paper, presents an algorithmic approach for numerically computing optimal CCFs for the two alternative variational objective functions proposed here and presents results comparing alternative CCFs for several different 4,5, and 6 primary designs.

Color Control Functions for Multiprimary Displays II: Variational Robustness Optimization.

In a companion Part I paper, we presented a framework for analyzing robustness of color control functions (CCFs) for multiprimary displays against primary and observer variations and proposed a variational minimization for obtaining robust CCFs. The objective function proposed in the Part I paper combines two nonnegative terms that serve as useful figures of merit for quantitatively characterizing CCFs. The first term measures lack of smoothness of the CCFs and characterizes how well transitions in perceptual color space are preserved in the presence of the primary/observer variations. The second term measures deviation of the CCF, in the vicinity of the gray axis, from a specific axially linear CCF that provides perceptual invariance to the variations along the gray axis. In this paper, using calculus of variations, we develop an algorithm for numerically computing optimal CCFs under the proposed variational formulation. Using the proposed algorithm, we determine optimal CCFs for a several multiprimary display designs and assess and compare their performance against alternative approaches. The variationally optimal CCFs obtained using the proposed approach offer improvements over the alternatives, as assessed visually and via quantitative metrics measuring smoothness and invariance in the presence of primary variations. The relative improvements provided by the proposed CCF increase with increasing number of primaries.

A Novel Integrative Mechanism in Anxiolytic Behavior Induced by Galanin 2/Neuropeptide Y Y1 Receptor Interactions on Medial Paracapsular Intercalated Amygdala in Rats.

Anxiety is evoked by a threatening situation and display adaptive or defensive behaviors, found similarly in animals and humans. Neuropeptide Y (NPY) Y1 receptor (NPYY1R) and Galanin (GAL) receptor 2 (GALR2) interact in several regions of the limbic system, including the amygdala. In a previous study, GALR2 enhanced NPYY1R mediated anxiolytic actions on spatiotemporal parameters in the open field and elevated plus maze, involving the formation of GALR2/NPYY1R heteroreceptor complexes in the amygdala. Moreover, the inclusion of complementary ethological parameters provides a more comprehensive profile on the anxiolytic effects of a treatment. The purpose of the current study is to evaluate the anxiolytic effects and circuit activity modifications caused by coactivation of GALR2 and NPYY1R. Ethological measurements were performed in the open field, the elevated plus-maze and the light-dark box, together with immediate early gene expression analysis within the amygdala-hypothalamus-periaqueductal gray (PAG) axis, as well as in situ proximity ligation assay (PLA) to demonstrate the formation of GALR2/NPYY1R heteroreceptor complexes. GALR2 and NPYY1R coactivation resulted in anxiolytic behaviors such as increased rearing and head-dipping, reduced stretch attend postures and freezing compared to single agonist or aCSF injection. Neuronal activity indicated by cFos expression was decreased in the dorsolateral paracapsular intercalated (ITCp-dl) subregion of the amygdala, ventromedial hypothalamic (VMH) nucleus and ventrolateral part of the periaqueductal gray (vlPAG), while increased in the perifornical nucleus of the hypothalamus (PFX) following coactivation of GALR2 and NPYY1R. Moreover, an increased density of GALR2/NPYY1R heteroreceptor complexes was explicitly observed in ITCp-dl, following GALR2 and NPYY1R coactivation. Besides, knockdown of GALR2 was found to reduce the density of complexes in ITCp-dl. Taken together, these results open up the possibility that the increased anxiolytic activity demonstrated upon coactivation of NPYY1R and GALR2 receptor was related to actions on the ITCp-dl. GALR2-NPYY1R heteroreceptor complexes may inhibit neuronal activity, by also modifying the neuronal networks of the hypothalamus and the PAG. These results indicate that GALR2/NPYY1R interactions in medial paracapsular intercalated amygdala can provide a novel integrative mechanism in anxiolytic behavior and the basis for the development of heterobivalent agonist drugs targeting GALR2/NPYY1R heteromers, especially in the ITCp-dl of the amygdala for the treatment of anxiety.

Acquisition and expression of fear memories are distinctly modulated along the dorsolateral periaqueductal gray axis of rats exposed to predator odor

The dorsolateral region of the midbrain periaqueductal gray (dlPAG) modulates both innate and conditioned fear responses. However, the contribution of the rostrocaudal portions of the dlPAG to defense reactions and aversive memories remains unclear. Here, we sought to investigate the effects of N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor blockade within rostral or caudal dlPAG of rats exposed to innate and learned fear to cat odor. For this, adult male Wistar rats were microinjected with the NMDA antagonist D-2-amino-5-phosphono-pentanoate (AP5; 3 or 6nmol/0.2μl) into the rostral or caudal dlPAG before and after the exposure to the cat odor or to the context paired with the predator odor. The results demonstrated that cat odor exposure induced unconditioned defensive behaviors as well as contextual fear. AP5 microinjected in the rostral dlPAG reduced the defensive responses to cat odor and impaired the acquisition, but not consolidation of contextual fear. On the other hand, AP5 infused within the caudal dlPAG promoted long-lasting reduction of contextual fear expression. Altogether, our data suggest that NMDA receptors mediate a functional dichotomy in the rostrocaudal axis of dlPAG regulating unconditioned and conditioned defensive reactions to predatory cues.

Improved Color Separation Based on Dot-Visibility Modeling and Color Mixing Rule for Six-Color Printers

A method of converting cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (CMYK) digital values into cyan, magenta, yellow, black, light cyan, and light magenta (CMYKLcLm) in six-color printers is proposed for providing a better print quality with less dot visibility, high color fidelity, and smooth color transition. Based on the attribute of the dependent variable Lm and Lc to M and C, the input M and C digital values are separated into MYLm and CLcLm digital values, respectively, according to three types of region: bright, middle, and dark. In bright regions, the input M digital values are separated into LmY digital values minimizing the colorimetric errors to compensate for the hue difference between M and Lm, while C is separated into LcLm in the same manner. In middle regions, to guarantee a gradual lightness transition between bright and dark regions, M and C are newly included along with LmY and LcLm used in bright regions, respectively, which raises a redundancy problem, i.e., many to one mapping between M and MYLm or C and CLcLm. To solve this problem, a digital-patch-based dot visibility metric, which avoids the need to scan a large number of printed patches, is proposed based on the standard deviation of the lightness component for digitally bilevel patches through model-based error diffusion, thereby making it possible to choose the unique MYLm and CLcLm with the lowest dot visibility score. Finally, in dark regions, the input M and C digital values are modified by the M and C with the closest color to reduce the use of unnecessary amounts of colorant. Moreover, to eliminate the appearance of color tones on the gray ramp, the input gray CMY digital values are converted into CMYK digital values using a simple gray component replacement, and the input CMY digital values in the predefined gray boundary regions are then transformed by a weighted sum of the CMYLcLm obtained from above-mentioned color separation and the separated CMYK on the gray axis. Experimental results show that the proposed method is able to produce printed images with both a lower color difference and a lower dot visibility when compared to conventional methods.

Image thresholding based on θ-division of 2-D histogram and maximum Shannon entropy

In view of the obvious wrong segmentation in commonly used region division of 2-D histogram and the non- universality of oblique segmentation method for image thresholding proposed recently, in this paper a much more widely suitable thresholding method is proposed based on the θ-division of 2-D histogram and the maximum Shannon entropy criterion. Firstly, the θ-division method of 2-D histogram is given. The region is divided by four parallel oblique lines and a line, where the angle between its normal line and gray level axis is θ degrees. Image thresholding is performed according to pixel's weighted average value of gray level and neighbour average gray level. The oblique segmentation method can be regarded as a special case of the proposed method at θ=45°. Then the formulae and its fast recursive algorithm of the method are deduced. Finally the segmented results and the running time at different values of θ are listed, which show that the segmented images achieve more accurate borders at smaller values of θ and the anti-noise is better at larger values of θ. The value of θ can be selected according to the real image characteristics and the requirements of segmented results. Compared with the algorithm of conventional 2-D maximum Shannon entropy method, the proposed method not only achieves more accurate segmentation results and more robust anti-noise, but also reduces the running time and memory space significantly.

Experimental determination of laws of color harmony. Part 1: Harmony content of different scales with similar hue

AbstractIn 1956 we came to the decision at the Budapest Technical University to start large scale experiments on color harmony. The experiments and the processing of the experimental results have been completed in 2006, after 50 years of research work. Within the frame of the experiments 95 000 participants have carried out more than 36 million elementary observations and made elementary decisions. Only certain parts of the experimental results have been published up to now. This article starts publishing the results not published yet. Research work on color harmony carried out during these 50 years can be categorized into seven main groups. The present article deals with the group of experiments testing how much the harmony content of the scales found in different locations in various positions of the axial sections of the Coloroid color system differ from each other. Our experiments were focused to three groups: we examined the variations in the extent of harmony content in the following cases (1) scales carried by lines with different angles to the gray axis, consisting of colors having the same number of harmony intervals between them, (2) scales consisting of colors being parallel to the gray axis, featuring various saturations, having different harmony intervals between them, and (3) scales perpendicular to the gray axis, with different luminosity, having different harmony intervals between each other. The examined color scales contained six colors in each experiment. Experiments were carried out for 24 different axial sections of the Coloroid color system. After 15‐years interruption experiments were repeated; however, with compositions of different appearances. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 32, 477–488, 2007

Estimation and vicarious validation of urban vegetation abundance by spectral mixture analysis

Both moderate and high spatial resolution imagery can be used to quantify abundance and distribution of urban vegetation for urban landscape management and to provide inputs to physical process models. Estimation of vegetation fraction from Landsat ETM+ and Quickbird allows for operational monitoring and reconnaissance at moderate resolution with calibration and vicarious validation at higher resolution. Establishing a linear correspondence between ETM-derived vegetation fraction and Quickbird-derived vegetation fraction facilitates the validation task by extending the spatial scale from 30 × 30 m to a more manageable 2.8 × 2.8 m. A comparative analysis indicates that urban reflectance can be accurately represented with a three component linear mixture model for both Landsat ETM+ and Quickbird imagery in the New York metro area. The strong linearity of the Substrate Vegetation Dark surface (SVD) mixture model provides consistent estimates of illuminated vegetation fraction that can be used to constrain physical process models that require biophysical inputs related to vegetation abundance. When Quickbird-derived 2.8 m estimates of vegetation fraction are integrated to 30 m scales and coregistered to Landsat-derived 30 m estimates, median estimates agree with the integrated fractions to within 5% for fractions > 0.2. The resulting Quickbird-ETM+ scatter distribution cannot be explained with estimate error alone but is consistent with a 3% to 6% estimation error combined with a 17 m subpixel registration ambiguity. The 3D endmember fraction space obtained from ETM+ imagery forms a ternary distribution of reflectance properties corresponding to distinct biophysical surface types. The SVD model is a reflectance analog to Ridd's V–I–S land cover model but acknowledges the fact that permeable and impermeable surfaces cannot generally be distinguished on the basis of broadband reflectance alone. We therefore propose that vegetation fraction be used as a proxy for permeable surface distribution to avoid the common erroneous assumption that all nonvegetated surfaces along the gray axis are completely impermeable. Comparison of mean vegetation fractions to street tree counts in New York City shows a consistent relationship between minimum fraction and tree count. However, moderate and high resolution areal estimates of vegetation fraction provide complementary information because they image all illuminated vegetation, including that not counted by the in situ street tree inventory.

High spatial resolution spectral mixture analysis of urban reflectance

This study uses IKONOS imagery to quantify the combined spatial and spectral characteristics of urban reflectance in 14 urban areas worldwide. IKONOS 1-m panchromatic imagery provides a detailed measure of spatial variations in albedo while IKONOS 4-m multispectral imagery allows the relative contributions of different materials to the spectrally heterogeneous radiance field to be determined and their abundance to be mapped. Spatial autocorrelation analyses indicate that the characteristic scale of urban reflectance is consistently between 10 and 20 m for the cities in this study. Spectral mixture analysis quantifies the relative contributions of the dominant spectral endmembers to the overall reflectance of the urban mosaic. Spectral mixing spaces defined by the two low-order principal components account for 96% to 99% of image variance and have a consistent triangular structure spanned by high albedo, low albedo and vegetation endmembers. Spectral mixing among these endmembers is predominantly linear although some nonlinear mixing is observed along the gray axis spanning the high and low albedo endmembers. Inversion of a constrained three-component linear mixing model produces stable, consistent estimates of endmember abundance. RMS errors based on the misfit between observed radiance vectors and modeled radiance vectors (derived from fraction estimates and image endmembers) are generally less than 3% of the mean of the observed radiance. Agreement between observed radiance and fraction estimates does not guarantee the accuracy of the areal fraction estimates, but it does indicate that the three-component linear model provides a consistent and widely applicable physical characterization of urban reflectance. Field validated fraction estimates have applications in urban vegetation monitoring and pervious surface mapping.