Showing papers on "Contrast (vision) published in 1997"

A visibility matching tone reproduction operator for high dynamic range scenes

Abstract: We present a tone reproduction operator that preserves visibility in high dynamic range scenes. Our method introduces a new histogram adjustment technique, based on the population of local adaptation luminances in a scene. To match subjective viewing experience, the method incorporates models for human contrast sensitivity, glare, spatial acuity, and color sensitivity. We compare our results to previous work and present examples of our techniques applied to lighting simulation and electronic photography.

Adaptation of retinal processing to image contrast and spatial scale

Abstract: Owing to the limited dynamic range of a neuron's output, neural circuits are faced with a trade-off between encoding the full range of their inputs and resolving gradations among those inputs. For example, the ambient light level varies daily over more than nine orders of magnitude, whereas the firing rate of optic nerve fibres spans less than two. This discrepancy is alleviated by light adaptation: as the mean intensity increases, the retina becomes proportionately less sensitive. However, image statistics other than the mean intensity also vary drastically during routine visual processing. Theory predicts that an efficient visual encoder should adapt its strategy not only to the mean, but to the full shape of the intensity distribution. Here we report that retinal ganglion cells, the output neurons of the retina, adapt to both image contrast-the range of light intensities-and to spatial correlations within the scene, even at constant mean intensity. The adaptation occurs on a scale of seconds, one hundred times more slowly than the immediate light response, and involves 2-5-fold changes in the firing rate. It is mediated within the retinal network: two independent sites of modulation after the photoreceptor cells appear to be involved. Our results demonstrate a remarkable plasticity in retinal processing that may contribute to the contrast adaptation of human vision.

Model of visual contrast gain control and pattern masking

Abstract: We have implemented a model of contrast gain and control in human vision that incorporates a number of key features, including a contrast sensitivity function, multiple oriented bandpass channels, accelerating nonlinearities, and a devisive inhibitory gain control pool. The parameters of this model have been optimized through a fit to the recent data that describe masking of a Gabor function by cosine and Gabor masks [J. M. Foley, "Human luminance pattern mechanisms: masking experiments require a new model," J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 11, 1710 (1994)]. The model achieves a good fit to the data. We also demonstrate how the concept of recruitment may accommodate a variant of this model in which excitatory and inhibitory paths have a common accelerating nonlinearity, but which include multiple channels tuned to different levels of contrast.

A visibility matching tone reproduction operator for high dynamic range scenes

Abstract: We present a tone reproduction operator that preserves visibility in high dynamic range scenes. Our method introduces a new histogram adjustment technique, based on the population of local adaptation luminances in a scene. To match subjective viewing experience, the method incorporates models for human contrast sensitivity, glare, spatial acuity and color sensitivity. We compare our results to previous work and present examples of our techniques applied to lighting simulation and electronic photography.

A visibility matching tone reproduction operator for high dynamic range scenes

Abstract: The authors present a tone reproduction operator that preserves visibility in high dynamic range scenes. The method introduces a new histogram adjustment technique, based on the population of local adaptation luminances in a scene. To match subjective viewing experience, the method incorporates models for human contrast sensitivity, glare, spatial acuity and color sensitivity. They compare the results to previous work and present examples the techniques applied to lighting simulation and electronic photography.

A comprehensive assessment of visual impairment in a population of older Americans. The SEE Study. Salisbury Eye Evaluation Project.

Abstract: Purpose. The Salisbury Eye Evaluation Project is a longitudinal study of risk factors for age-related eye diseases and the impact of eye disease and visual impairment on physical disability. In this article, the authors report the prevalence of visual impairment in their population and explore the relations among the various measures of visual function.Methods. A population-based sample of 2520 residents of Salisbury, Maryland, between the ages of 65 and 84 years were enrolled in the study. Twenty-six percent of participants were black. Vision tests included best-corrected Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study acuity, Pelli-Robson contrast sensitivity with and without glare, Randot stereoacuity, and 60 degrees Humphrey visual fields.Results. Visual function decreased linearly with age for the acuity, contrast sensitivity, glare, and visual field tests. Stereoacuity remained constant into the mid-70s and declined at an accelerating rate thereafter. Black participants had lower contrast sensitivity, reduced stereoacuity, and worse visual fields, at all ages compared to white participants; however, white participants were more sensitive to glare. The overall pervalence of visual acuity impairment in blacks was 5.6% versus 3.0% for whites, using the traditional United States definition (worse than 20/40 to better than 20/200) and 3.3% for blacks versus 1.6% for whites, using the World Health Organization definition (worse than 20/60 to 20/400). Acuity was correlated moderately with contrast sensitivity, stereoacuity, and visual fields (Spearman rho = 0.50, 0.35, and 0.34, respectively). The correlation between acuity and glare sensitivity was low (rho = 0.12).Conclusions. Many aspects of visual function, not just acuity, decline with age. Black participants have more visual impairment than do white participants for all rests except glare sensitivity. The prevalence of visual acuity impairment in the Salisbury Eye Evaluation population is lower than that reported by other studies using similar test procedures. Low-to-moderate correlations among vision test scores suggest that several different dimensions of visual function are being assessed.

A Theory of Illusory Lightness and Transparency in Monocular and Binocular Images: The Role of Contour Junctions

Abstract: A theory of illusory transparency and lightness is described for monocular and binocular images containing X-, T- and I-contour junctions. This theory asserts that the geometric and luminance relationships of contour junctions induce illusory transparency and lightness percepts by causing a phenomenal scission of a homogenous luminance into multiple contributions. Specifically, it is argued that a discontinuous change in contrast along aligned contours that preserve contrast polarity induces a scission of the lower contrast region into a near-transparent surface or an illumination change, and a more distant surface that continues behind this near layer. This scission is assumed to cause changes in perceived lightness and/or surface opacity. Discontinuous changes in contrast along contours also are assumed to induce end-cut illusory contours that run roughly perpendicular to the inducing orientation of the contour, both monocularly and binocularly. Binocular illusory contours are shown to be caused by the ...

Ultrahigh resolution interferometric x-ray imaging

Abstract: The Invention provides practical apparatus and methods for significant improvements to conventional radiography practice. It can image objects having negligible x-ray absorption contrast e.g. otherwise x-ray transparent low-Z artifacts such as human soft-tissue, by obtaining edge-enhanced contrast from an object's (BDY) x-ray refractive-index gradients. In mammography, the contrast of small micro-calcifications is increased typically 4-fold, or more. It can be "tuned" to obtain element-selective refractive-index enhanced contrast to resonantly image minute quantities of a specific element with Z APPROX 35-56 and only that element. With only a single brief x-ray exposure it can produce two independent images, e.g. of the object's x-ray absorption and refractive-index distributions. It virtually eliminates the blurring and contrast reducing effects of x-ray scatter, especially of very small-angle scatter. It does not use a Bucky grid, and the associated increase in effective detector quantum efficiency results in a significant decrease in image quantum mottle. It can produce CT scan 3D images with a much reduced scanning time. The Invention provides radiograms with greatly improved resolution, contrast and versatility, and edge-enhanced features. It operates via the fractional Talbot effect using two pre-object microfabricated gratings (G1, G2) and a detector (D) preferably containing a periodic pixel array. It further includes an in-situ laser interferometer for aligning the gratings (G1, G2) to the detector (D). While the Invention has a wide range of application, it is ideally suited for medical imaging of biological soft-tissue, and especially for mammography, angiography, and CT (or CAT) scans.

Discrimination of coloured stimuli by honeybees: alternative use of achromatic and chromatic signals

Abstract: Using a Y-maze experimental set-up, honeybees Apis mellifera were trained to a coloured disc presented against an achromatic background. In subsequent tests they were given a choice between the trained disc and an alternative disc that differed either in its chromatic properties, or in the amount of achromatic green contrast that it produced against the background. Tests were conducted in two experimental situations: one in which discs subtended a visual angle of 30° (as viewed by the bee at the decision point in the Y-maze), and another in which the angle was 6.5° or 5° (depending on the experiment). At the visual angle of 30°, the bees' choice behaviour was governed by the differences in chromatic properties, and not by the differences in the amount of green contrast. With the 6.5°- and 5°-discs, on the other hand, it was governed by the differences in the amount of green contrast, and not by the differences in chromatic properties. Consequently, in the present discrimination task, bees use either chromatic or achromatic cues, depending on the visual angle subtended by the stimuli at the eye. Results of a further experiment, in which the trained disc was tested against discs that produced various amounts of green contrast, confirm the above conclusion and show, in addition, that bees learn the green-contrast difference between a trained and a non-rewarded alternative.

Optical investigations of physiology: a study of intrinsic and extrinsic biomedical contrast.

Abstract: The utility and performance of optical studies of tissue depends upon the contrast and the changes of contrast in health and disease and in functional activity. The contrast is determined both by t...

Scene change detector for digital video

Abstract: In a method for detecting a scene change between a prior video picture and a current video picture of a sequence of pictures, an average luminance value is determined for a block pair of the prior and current video pictures. Preferably, the blocks of the block pair are located, respectively, in the same relative position in the prior and current pictures. An incremental visual sensation value is determined using a difference between the average luminance values. If the incremental visual sensation value exceeds a block contrast threshold level, a scene change is indicated. In particular, if the minimum of the average luminance values of the current and prior picture blocks exceeds a dark scene threshold, the incremental visual sensation value is determined using the ratio of (a) the absolute value of the difference between the average luminance values, and (b) the minimum of the average luminance values of the current and prior picture blocks. Otherwise, the incremental visual sensation value is determined using the ratio of (a) the absolute value of the difference, and (b) the dark scene threshold. The method may be optimized by adjusting the block size based on the relative amount of motion and the current picture type.

Method and apparatus for area selective exposure adjustment

Abstract: A digital image having a dynamic range representing a brightness in an original scene greater than the dynamic range of an output medium, is processed to fit the dynamic range of the output medium by dividing the image into first and second portions, the first portion of the image representing a brightness range extending from a minimum brightness up to a distance equal to the dynamic range of the output medium, the second portion of the image representing a brightness range extending from a maximum brightness down to a distance equal to the dynamic range of the output medium. First and second transformations are determined for the first and second portions of the image respectively that map the first and second portions onto the dynamic range of the output medium using a exposure determination algorithm of the type used in photographic printers. The digital image is then thresholded at a brightness level that divides the image into a first region having the lowest levels of brightness and a second region having the highest levels of brightness. Finally, the first transformation is applied to the first region of the image and the second transformation is applied to the second region of the image to produce a digital image having a dynamic range that matches the dynamic range of the output medium while maintaining natural contrast within objects in the image.

Subjective depth-of-focus of the eye.

Abstract: An experiment is described in which the subjective depth-of-focus (DOF) of the eye, defined as the range of focusing errors for which the image of the target appears to have the same clarity, contrast, and form as the optimal in-focus image, was measured as a function of the size of high contrast (99%) Snellen Es for 5 trained subjects under cycloplegia. Mean DOF increased by approximately 60% as the size of the letter detail increased from -0.2 to 0.87 log min arc (Snellen equivalent: 6/3.8 to 6/45), although there were considerable intersubject variations. DOF declined with increasing pupil diameter, the mean total DOFs being 0.86, 0.59, and 0.55 D for 2-, 4-, and 6-mm pupils, respectively. In a second experiment, use of low (21%) contrast letters with a 4-mm pupil and 4 subjects marginally increased the DOF (by 0.08 +/- 0.05 D); refraction also shifted in a myopic direction by a mean of 0.15 +/- 0.06 D compared with the high contrast letters. A third experiment with four less-experienced subjects demonstrated the importance of instruction and training in any measurement involving judgment of just-perceptible defocus blur. The clinical implications of the results for measurements of refraction and amplitude of accommodation are discussed.

Registration of 3-D partial surface models using luminance and depth information

Abstract: Textured surface models of three-dimensional objects are gaining importance in computer graphics applications. These models often have to be merged from several overlapping partial models which have to be registered (i.e. the relative transformation between the partial models has to be determined) prior to the merging process. In this paper a method is presented that makes use of both camera-based depth information (e.g. from stereo) and the luminance image. The luminance information is exploited to determine corresponding point sets on the partial surfaces using an optical flow approach. Quaternions are then employed to determine the transformation between the partial models which minimizes the sum of the 3-D Euclidian distances between the corresponding point sets. In order to find corresponding points on the partial surfaces luminance information is linearized. The procedure is iterated until convergence is reached. In contrast to only using depth information, employing luminance speeds up convergence and reduces remaining degrees of freedom (e.g. when registering sphere-like shapes).

Contrast adaptation and the spatial structure of natural images.

Abstract: Natural images have a characteristic spatial structure, with amplitude spectra that decrease with frequency roughly as 1/f. We have examined how contrast (pattern-selective) adaptation to this structure influences the spatial sensitivity of the visual system. Contrast thresholds and suprathreshold contrast and frequency matches were measured after adaptation to random samples from an ensemble of images of outdoor scenes or of synthetic images formed by filtering the amplitude spectra of noise over a range of spectral slopes. Adaptation selectively reduced sensitivity at low-to-medium frequencies, biasing contrast sensitivity toward higher frequencies. The pattern of aftereffects was similar for different natural image ensembles but varied with large changes in the slope of the noise spectra. Our results suggest that adaptation to the spatial structure in natural scenes may exert strong and selective influences on perception that are important in characterizing the normal operating states of the visual system.

Automatic luminance and contrast adustment for display device

Abstract: An apparatus and method is provided for dynamically modifying both the luminance and contrast of an image as it is displayed on a display unit in response to changing lighting conditions. Sensors are utilized to continually measure the luminance of the light illuminating the display unit and the display surround luminance. Measurement signals generated by the light sensors are processed to provide display luminance and contrast adjustment control signals that gradually cause the adjustment of the display unit's luminance and contrast in response thereto. Continual adjustment of the luminance and contrast of a display unit according to changing lighting conditions such that the brightness and contrast perception of the displayed image remains constant under the varying conditions. As a result, a number of advantages our obtained including: the brightness and contrast perception of images displayed on a display unit remains constant as the display device illumination changes; the brightness and contrast perception of images displayed on a display unit remains constant as the display unit surround luminance changes; and power consumption is decreased in dim environments.

The SKILL Card. An acuity test of reduced luminance and contrast. Smith-Kettlewell Institute Low Luminance.

Abstract: Purpose. To design and evaluate a new vision test that combines low contrast and reduced illumination to stress the visual system and be sensitive to subtle alterations in function. Methods. A simple new clinical test, the Smith-Kettlewell Institute Low Luminance (SKILL) Card, is designed to measure spatial vision under conditions of reduced contrast and luminance using normal office lighting. The SKILL Card consists of two near acuity charts mounted back to back. One side has a chart with black letters on a dark gray background designed to simulate reduced contrast and luminance conditions. The other side has a high-contrast, black-on-white letter chart. The SKILL score is the acuity loss (number of letters) between the light and dark sides. Results. Age norms for a large normal population have been established and show that test scores increase with age, particularly after age 50. Repeatability is as good as that of standard Snellen acuity. The SKILL score is affected minimally by blur, but it is affected by large variations in light level. SKILL scores are sensitive to the presence of visual disease such as recovered optic neuritis. Conclusions. The SKILL card allows quick, reliable measurement of the effect of reduced luminance and contrast on acuity. SKILL scores are not correlated with other vision measures in patients with optic neuritis, which shows that the SKILL card measures a different dimension of vision function than existing clinical tests.

Automatic contrast control for liquid crystal displays

Abstract: An LCD with automatic contrast control is provided. A light sensor is mounted over a test pixel which is separate form the main viewing area of the LCD for taking luminance measurements for "ON", "OFF", and "surround" pixel states for a series of candidate operating voltages. The pixel contrast ratio and background contrast ratio are computed for each candidate voltage and the voltage resulting in the best contrast is selected as the operating voltage for the entire LCD.

Contrast control for a backlit LCD

Abstract: A contrast controller for a liquid-crystal display maximizes the display contrast by using a light sensor to detect ambient light levels and light blocked by the LCD panel. The display contrast is maximized by maximizing the difference between the ambient and blocked light levels. Further contrast maximization is accomplished through variable control of the LCD backlight in accordance with sensed light levels.

Cold- and hot-pack contrast therapy: subcutaneous and intramuscular temperature change.

Abstract: Objective To investigate the temperature changes in subcutaneous and intramuscular tissue during a 20-minute cold- and hot-pack contrast therapy treatment. Design and setting Subjects were randomly exposed to 20 minutes of contrast therapy (5 minutes of heat with a hydrocollator pack followed by 5 minutes of cold with an ice pack, repeated twice) and 20 minutes of cold therapy (ice pack only) in a university laboratory. Subjects Nine men and seven women with no history of peripheral vascular disease and no allergy to cephalexin hydrochloride volunteered for the study. Measurements Subcutaneous and intramuscular tissue temperatures were measured by 26-gauge hypodermic needle microprobes inserted into the left calf just below the skin or 1 cm below the skin and subcutaneous fat, respectively. Results With contrast therapy, muscular temperature did not fluctuate significantly over the 20-minute period compared with the subcutaneous temperature, which fluctuated from 8 degrees C to 14 degrees C each 5-minute interval. When subjects were treated with ice alone, muscle temperature decreased 7 degrees C and subcutaneous temperature decreased 17 degrees C over the 20-minute treatment. Conclusions Our results show that contrast therapy has little effect on deep muscle temperature. Therefore, if most of the physiologic effects attributed to cold and hot contrast therapy depend on substantial fluctuations in tissue temperature, contrast therapy needs to be reconsidered as a viable therapeutic modality.

Figure‐Ground Segregation at Contours: a Neural Mechanism in the Visual Cortex of the Alert Monkey

Abstract: An important task of vision is the segregation of figure and ground in situations of spatial occlusion. Psychophysical evidence suggests that the depth order at contours is defined early in visual processing. We have analysed this process in the visual cortex of the alert monkey. The animals were trained on a visual fixation task which reinforced foveal viewing. During periods of active visual fixation, we recorded the responses of single neurons in striate and prestriate cortex (areas V1, V2, and V3/V3A). The stimuli mimicked situations of spatial occlusion, usually a uniform light (or dark) rectangle overlaying a grating texture of opposite contrast. The direction of figure and ground at the borders of these rectangles was defined by the direction of the terminating grating lines (occlusion cues). Neuronal responses were analysed with respect to figure-ground direction and contrast polarity at such contours. Striate neurons often failed to respond to such stimuli, or were selective for contrast polarity; others were non-selective. Some neurons preferred a certain combination of figure-ground direction and contrast polarity. These neurons were rare both in striate and prestriate cortex. The majority of neurons signalled figure-ground direction independent of contrast polarity. These neurons were only found in prestriate cortex. We explain these responses in terms of a model which also explains neuronal signals of illusory contours. These results suggest that occlusion cues are used at an early level of processing to segregate figure and ground at contours.

1H T1 and T2 measurements of the MR imaging contrast agents Gd-DTPA and Gd-DTPA BMA at 1.5T

Abstract: We report in vitro T1 and T2 relaxation studies for the open-chain complexes Gd-DTPA and Gd-DTPA BMA. Measurements were performed on phantoms containing aqueous and plasma solutions of different concentrations by MR imaging in a 1.5T superconducting whole-body scanner. Longitudinal relaxation times T1 were evaluated from serial turbo-FLASH experiments for concentrations less than 1 mM, whereas for larger concentrations the values were obtained from a standard inversion recovery (IR) sequence. Transverse relaxation times T2 were determined using multi-echo spin-echo MRI protocols. The T1 and T2 relaxivities of the nonionic Gd-DTPA BMA are similar to those of the Gd-DTPA. The temperature dependencies of the relaxivities were determined over a temperature interval ranging from 21 to 50 degrees C and were found to be slightly different for the two contrast agents. In the case of Gd-DTPA BMA a larger deviation of the expected temperature behavior of the relaxivities was observed as compared with Gd-DTPA. Deviations from a strictly linear dependence of relaxation times on temperature were found at lower concentrations in aqueous solutions. In plasma solutions a high T1/T2 ratio was observed for low concentrations, which decreased monotonically with increasing concentrations.

Development of spatial contrast sensitivity from infancy to adulthood: psychophysical data.

Abstract: Purpose. This study examined changes in contrast sensitivity, the location of the peak of the contrast sensitivity function (CSF), and the shape of the function from infancy to adulthood. Methods. Contrast thresholds were obtained using behavioral methods, preferential looking for infants, and operant techniques for older children and adults, with the same stimuli for all ages. Results. Contrast sensitivity at the peak improved almost two log units from infancy to adulthood. Much of the shift in the peak to higher spatial frequencies occurred in infancy. Sensitivity decreased by almost one octave at 0.38 c/deg between 2 and 4 months of age. Sensitivity was not yet at adult levels at 8 years of age. Conclusions. The reduction in contrast sensitivity at the lowest frequency between 2 and 4 months of age suggests an increase in lateral inhibition during early infancy. Contrast sensitivity at the peak increased by two log units from then until adulthood.