The Representation of Color Metrics and Mappings in Perceptual Color Space

Steven M. Boker

Abstract:

This article presents a rethinking of the problem of representation of both the space of photic stimuli and the perceptual color space within the context of the theory of Riemann manifolds. The color perception mapping function is suggested to be highly similar to statistical problems in which distributions need to be uniquely characterized with a few invariants. An argument is presented that perceptual color space needs to be represented in at least four dimensions in order to accurately capture and discriminate the distributions of photon energy quanta present in real world objects.

• Contents
• Introduction
• Historical Origins of Color Vision Research
  • Newton
  • Young
  • Brewster
  • Helmholtz
  • Grassmann
  • Maxwell
• Optical Properties of Color Stimuli
• Mapping the Spectrum onto Perceptual Color Space
  • Is Perceptual Color Space a Metric Space?
  • Is the Mapping onto Perceptual Color Space Continuous?
  • Is Perceptual Color Space a Differentiable Manifold?
• Color Ordering Systems
  • Munsell Color System
  • CIE Colorimetric Standard Observer Model
  • Measuring and Representing Objective Spectra of Visible Light
  • Orthogonal White and Black Dimensions
• Neurophysical Models
• General Discussion
• References
• About this document ...