A Lightness Scale from Image Intensity Distributions.

Abstract

A lightness scale is derived from a theoretical estimate of the probability distribution of image intensities for natural scenes. The derived image intensity distribution considers three factors: reflectance, surface orientation and illumination, and surface texture (or roughness). The convolution of the effects of these three factors yields the theoretical probability distribution of image intensities. A useful lightness scale should be the integral of this probability density function, for then equal intervals along the scale are equally probable and carry equal information. The result is a scale similar to that used in photography, or by the nervous system as its transfer function. (Author)

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Aug 19, 1981
Accession Number
ADA109917

Entities

People

  • W. A. Richards

Organizations

  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Absorption Coefficients
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Differential Equations
  • Distribution Functions
  • Equations
  • Gaussian Distributions
  • Illumination
  • Light Sources
  • Materials
  • Nervous System
  • New York
  • Optics
  • Probability
  • Probability Density Functions
  • Probability Distributions
  • Surface Roughness
  • Transfer Functions

Readers

  • Computer Vision.
  • Regression Analysis.
  • Vision Science/Vision Psychology/Cognitive Neuroscience.