1

Vision and COLOR

J ouko Kurki, 6.1.2014
jouko.kurki@metropolia.fi
DVF_1_Color_and_Vision.ppt Copyright J ouko Kurki, 2004-2014
2
Human vision (1)
Light hits photoreceptors in our retina
The rods are extremely sensitive to light and provide achromatic
vision (Black and White TV vision) in low light condition
The cones are less sensitive, but provide color vision
The signal travels by neural units to the brain where an image is formed
3
Human vision (2)
Human eye (below) senses electromagnetic radiation in 400-
700 nm band. With the help of the vision system man forms a
color image of his/her surroundings.

In the eye there are about 120 million rods (Fi sauva) used to
sense the surroundings as a black and white TV-camera and
about 6-7 million cones (in Finnish tappi) used to sense
colors.

4
Low light and color sensitivity
The human visual system has much
greater sensitivity in low ambient
illumination. Imaging is primarily
accomplished by the rods when
illumination levels are very low. The
spectral sensitivity of the rods is
attached. Rods sense only in grayscale
so our perception is black and white
image (B&W)
The amount of rods is far greater
than that of cones. Correspondingly
the resolution of human is less for
colors especially for moving pictures
(video).
This can be used by having the color
resolution less for colors that for
intensity. Acceptable factors are 1:2
(studio video applications) or 1:4
(consumer video applications)
5
Simplified diagram of the eye-brain mechanism
From: M. Robin, M. Poulin, Digital Television Fundamentals
6
Visual aquity
Visual aquity is the angle subtended by the smallest visible detail in the object. It is about 1
arc min for the eye *).
The quantity presenting a picture systems capability to present fine detail is called resolution.
Television resolution is the number of alternating black and white lines that can be resolved
over the full height of the screen, and is expressed as lines per height (LPH). It depends on the
rod and cone structure of the eye and brightness and contras levels.
The current 525 (NTSC) and 625 (PAL) line TV-systems were developed by assuming the
visual aquity of 1 arc min and viewing distance = 6 x picture height .
*) M. Robin, M. Poulin, Digital Television
Fundamentals
The relationship for the maximum number of
vertical lines N
v
that can resolved is:
N
v
=1 / ( * n )
=minimum resolvable angle of the eye (in
rad) =1 arc min =2.91*10
-4
rad
n =D/H =viewing distance / picture height

For n =6 =3 m/ 0.5 m; N
v
=572 lines. This
matches with the vertical resolution of TV:
NTSC 480 active lines, PAL 576 active lines.
For HD: Nv =1080 lines =>n =D/H ~3.1
7
Reducing number of
pixels (lower
resolution)
Original picture
Enlargement 1
Enlargement 1
Enlargement 1 (pixels are clearly visible)
8
Effect of compression (same amount of pixels)
Best quality, 551 kB Low quality, 41 kB Medium quality, 125 kB
9
Contrast resolution
One cycle corresponds to 2 TV-lines
Viewing distance
Visual acuity express how much detail one's eye can perceive and separate
Given in cycles/degree (cycles as 2 lines) degrees.
Influenced by background, picture contrast...
Display for SD resolution (576 lines):
Assuming acuity of ~30 cycles/degree for full detail perception
Height H imposes max viewing distance of D = H / (2* tan a/2) = 6H
Due to successful implementations of scaling circuitry digital content
when presented to a DH display via HDMI interface makes the SD
quality viewable even for shorter distances !
For HD display (1080 lines):
Assuming same acuity and height H
1080/2 = 540 cycles -> min angle of 540 /30 = 18 -> max distance of
3.1H = ~3H
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Problem. CIF Display Height ?
What is height for CIF display?
Resolution of 352x288 (CIF)
Viewing distance of 1m (imposed)
Design:
288 lines ->144 cycles
assume acuity of ~30 cycles/degree ->min angle of 144/30 =4.8
4.8 angle, 1m distance ->height = 8.4cm.
For 0.5 m viewing distance height 4.2 cm = roughly size of a mobile phone
display. I.e. the phone display resolution needs to be around CIF = 352x288.
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Eye Contrast sensitivity vs. picture rate
Conclusion:
In video contrast
sensitivity drops very
quickly after 15-25
pictures /sec. => in
video resolution can
be reduced

From: M. Robin, M. Poulin, Digital Television Fundamentals
Cycles / 1 degree
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Human eye persistence and sensitivity for
Luma and Croma in moving picture (video)
The impression of light persist for
about 0.1 s and 10 still pictures /
sec gives an illusion of motion.
Picture rate of more that 10
pictures /s is needed to avoid
jerky movement and flicker (Fi
vlkkyminen).

Eye resolution for colors is much
less than for Luma signal at
increasing picture rate. As a
result colors can be coded at half
resolution when picture rate is 25
Hz or above without loss of visual
quality.

From: M. Robin, M. Poulin, Digital Television Fundamentals
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Persistence of vision and flicker
Flicker is dependent on illumination (luminosity) of the picture. Increase of picture rate by 12.6
Hz increases flicker threshold by 10 times *). In motion pictures there are 24 pictures /s, but
every frame is presented twice using a mechanical shutter, so flicker frequency is 48 Hz.
In Television the applicable flicker frequency is the field (consisting of even or odd lines of the
picture) frequency being 50 Hz for PAL- and 60 Hz for the NTSC systems.
Table below *) present the picture luminosity values for the flicker threshold. Note that
surroundings and other factors affect this value, e.g. movie theaters are darkened to lower the
risk of flicker.

Flicker threshold values for common frequencies
*) M. Robin, M. Poulin, Digital Television
Fundamentals
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Critical picture refresh rate
From: M. Robin, M. Poulin, Digital Television Fundamentals
Depends on:
Picture size /viewing
Distance
Picture brightness
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COLOR
Color is a function of the human visual system, and is not an intrinsic property. Objects
don't "have" color, they give off light (at particular wavelenght(s)) that appears to be a
color. Spectral power distributions (SPD) exist in the physical world, but color exists
only in the mind of the beholder.

White light includes all wavelengths in roughly equal portions (there are several
standards for white light). The visible spectrum ranges from roughly 400 to 700 nm.
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Introduction to color spaces: The additive
color wheel and RGB
The basic rules of
additive color mixing:
red +green =yellow
green +blue =cyan
blue +red =magenta
red +green +blue =white
The RGB system is easy to understand and widely used Television, PC-
monitors etc.
Used to express the color: The colors can be presented on the color circle. Colors
(or hue or tint) are expressed as degrees on the color wheel: 0
o
=red, 120
o
=
Green , 240
o
=Blue. These are primary colors (in Finnish pvrit), the colors
between the main colors are complementary colors (Fi vlivrit).
At the edges the color is most saturated (clean color), moving towards center
means more wash-out colors.
The intensity of light would be a perpendicular axis to the color wheel

the absence of light is darkness, add light to it to create desired color.
Color are super positioned (lamp overlap)
small elements (TV pixels, halftones)
Usually 8 bits / color (24 bits total), thus 2
24
~16.7 million colors

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HSL Color space
(hue, saturation, and luminance)
The acronym stands for hue, saturation, and luminance.
This method of describing colors is also known as HSB
(hue, saturation, and brightness), HSI (hue, saturation,
and intensity), or HSV (hue, saturation, and value).

The hue describes the position on the spectrum where
the color is located (angle on color wheel), with red at
the low end of the spectrum and violet at the high end of
the spectrum. This number can be either an 8-bit value
(a number between 0-255), a percentage (0-100
percent), or a number between 0-359 (representing the
degrees on a color wheel).


The saturation describes how bright the color is, between gray at the low end and very bright at the
high end. This number can be either an 8-bit value or a percentage.

The luminance (intensity or brightness) describes where on the scale between black and white the
color falls. This method of describing color is easy for many artists to use, and it is usually used only in
the interface of a graphics program. Once the graphic is saved, it is converted to RGB, Palletized, or
CMYK color.

The only time this color definition method is used natively is by color television, where it is referred to
as YUV (Y-signal, U-signal, and V-signal.) The Y-signal represents the intensity, and is the only part of
the signal a black-and-white television set uses. The U- and V-signals define a color spectrum that a
color television uses to choose which color to display each pixel.

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Subtractive color mixing
The basic rules of
subtractive color mixing:
cyan +magenta =blue
magenta +yellow =red
yellow +cyan =green
cyan +magenta +yellow =
black
the
subtractive
color wheel
Used in printing while adding inks
The applied inks reflect certain wavelengths to give appearance of a desired color
In most cases, each of the four channels is a value between 0 and 255. While this provides
up to 4,294,967,296 different color combinations (32-bit), you actually only get the same
number (16,777,216) of discrete colors as if you are using 24-bit colors, because many of
the possible color combinations duplicate each other. E. g grey can presented as:
Cyan=128, Magenta=128, Yellow=128, Black=0 or Cyan=0, Magenta=0, Yellow=0,
Black=128.
CMYK is not able to present as many colors as RGB.
When most computer programs display a graphic that uses CMYK, they first convert the
image to CMY by adding the value of the black channel to each of the other three and then
removing the black channel. This CMY can easily be converted to RGB.
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Color systems and Color Spaces
Color space is the system under which colors are defined, e.g. RGB-system is used in TV and
PC-monitor to define the color.

Two regions in our visual field that appear to have the same color need not have the same
spectrum.

Color reproduction schemes rely on the fact that any color visible by humans can be
approximated by the combination of a limited subset of visible light frequencies.


The main color spaces have at least three dimensions:
RGB (red, green, blue)
CMY (cyan, magenta, yellow)
HSB (hue, saturation, brightness)
HLV (hue, lightness, value)
XYZ (tristimulus)


Some printing schemes use more than three colors of ink:
CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, key)
CMYK+spot (cyan, magenta, yellow, key, special color)
Hexachrome (cyan, magenta, yellow, black, green, orange)

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Color theory: (1) Human eye color sensitivities
There are three types of cones sensitive to:
Red (R, greek Rho)
Green (G, Gamma) and
Blue (B, Beta) light.



Wavelength sensitivities of cones
R, G and B. The overall sensitivity
is V = sum of all sensitivities over
wavelength
Sensitivity curves are normally
denoted by q
k
(k = R, G, or B)
Human vision has 3 channels R, G
and B; light striking to any cone
adds to this channel over the
sensitivity range. The system
calculates the response to these
channels according to;
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Image formation
Light source with spectral power
distribution E() strikes and
object with reflectivity S(), so
light hitting the eye is:
C() = E()*S()
In this case the signals to the R,
G and B channels of the eye are:

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Gamma correction
In CRT displays the output light intensity is I = R

(down left), i.e

nonlinear by exponent value around 2-2.5.
To compensate for this the RGB values need to be gamma
corrected according to R -> R = R
1/
(down right). As a result we
arrive in linear signal. The value of gamma is around 2.2, but
can vary in different systems / equipment.
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Gamma value sRGB
Typical value of Gamma = =2.2.
However vale differs in various systems, e.g. Apple computer has gamma correction of 1.8 in
display card whereas PC does not.
One attempt is Standard RGB, sRGB ( =2.4). This is to be included in all future HTML
standards.
Anyway: precaution is needed with color definitions. Certain RGB values might not give what is
desired.


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Color matching
International Standards body for color Commission Internationale de
LEclairage (abbreviated CIE) has defined color matching functions based
on 3 basic colors. These were defined in 1931 as lights with wavelengths
435.8 nm (blue), 546.1 nm (green) and 700 nm (red) *). In 1965 careful
experiments were made to define Tri-Stimulus values for colors a human
can see *). The color matching curves are the basis for Tri-stimulus
values (X, Y, Z) that can be used to define all colors humans can (see Li &
Drew, **).
Ref: *) R. Gonzalez, R. Woods, Digital image processing, 3rd ed. 2008, ISBN 0-13-168728-x
**)Ze-Nian Li, Mark S. Drew, Fundamentals of Multimedia, Prentice Hall, NJ (USA), 2004. ISBN 0-013-061872-1
X refers to red, Y green
and Z blue.

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CIE chromaticity diagram
From the eyes color sensitivity curves we define TRI-STIMULUS VALUES
X, Y, Z.
The equations below mean that we sum all light from light source and then
divided it to red green and blue channels. Then light is weighted by human
vision sensitivity curves and integrated to the channels. it by the sensitivity
curves of the eye for Red, green and blue. The brain then process this data
to produce all visible colors a human can see.
These colors can be demonstrated on the
CIE chromaticity diagram
All color systems can be tied to these
values.
These TRI-STIMULUS VALUES X, Y, Z are
adequate to present all possible colors a
human can see, whereas e.g. RGB system
cannot. This is because RGB has only three
fixed nearly monochromatic colors. X, Y, Z is
tied to the human eyes sensitivity curves.
Simplified CIE diagram
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CIE cont.
The magnitude of X, Y, and Z mean intensity of light. Thus there is some
maximum value.
In CIE system the X, Y, and Z values are normalized to values x, y, z as below
Now adding above x+y+z we get
x+y+z=1 and thus we can calculate z =1
(x+y),
Thus we need only 2 values to specify a
color. These are x and y.
Roughly x corresponds to red, y green
and z blue.
The result is plotted to a xy-curve
showing the different colors *). For white
light x=y=z, so we need to have x=1/3
and y=1/3. This is the white point (black
dot in the picture).
All colors need to be below the dotted line
because x+y+z is max 1.
*) See details for mapping the graph from
Ze-Nian Li, Mark S. Drew, Fundamentals of
Multimedia, Prentice Hall, NJ (USA), 2004. ISBN
0-013-061872-1
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CIE
chromaticity
diagram
CIE =Commission
Internationale de l'Eclairage
The relative response of the
red and green cones to
different colors of light are
plotted on the horizontal and
vertical axes, respectively.

Values on the tongue shaped
perimeter (edges) are for
light of a single wavelength
(in nanometers).

Values within the curve are
for light of mixed frequency.
The point in the center
labeled D65 corresponds to
light from a blackbody
radiator at 6500 K -- the
effective temperature of
daylight at midday, a
generally accepted standard
value of white light.
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Monitor color, GAMUT
The phosphor colors (nearly fixed
wavelength Red, Green, Blue) are
defined using CIE diagram by their x
and y chromaticity values above.
The resulting color space of the
RGB monitor is shown at right with a
TRIANGLE.
Notise that not all colors can be
shown on RGB monitor.
For out of GAMUT cased (e.g the
small triangle, the nearest color in
the gamut is shown.
Standard bodies:
NTSC, National Television System Committee
(TV-system in North America)
SMPTE, Society of Motion Picture and
Television Engineers (USA)
EBU, European Broadcasting Union
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X, Y, Z to RGB transform
The actual tri-stimulus values are X, Y, Z containing also the
magnitude of the color
Setting R=1, G=1 and B =1 should give white but from monitor
specification this is not quite true; a white point correction is needed.
After math and after doing gamma correction (See Li & Drew fro
details *)) we get using NTSC system x, y coefficients (validity in
Europe need to be checked):
In real case we need gamma correction. This is accomplished
by first doing gamma correction to R,GB vales. Y is calculated
from the gamma corrected RGB values
*) Ref: Ze-Nian Li, Mark S. Drew, Fundamentals of Multimedia, Prentice Hall, NJ (USA), 2004. ISBN 0-013-
061872-1
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LAB Color space
Lab-Color system is mathematical model to represent colors as reliably as possible to
avoid the dependend on the perceived color on the monitor or inks etc.
Not much used in normal work, but Adobe Photoshop uses Lab as its in internal color
system.
Lab is not dependent on adjustments of the PC monitor or printing colors behavior on
paper
The Lab color space is much wider than that of RGB or CMYK
Lab color space includes three channels:
L for Luminance (or brightness). L is measured in %: 0 % =black, 100 % =full brightness
(white)
a and b are complementary color channels:
Channel a includes colors from green via grey (in the middle of the color wheel) to
magenta; Channel b includes colors from blue via grey to yellow. The values range
between 128127. E.g positive value on channel a means greenish.
then the color channel value is 0, the complementary color cancel each other and
the color is grey, the brightness of which is determined by the L-channel.

Working in Lab space is as fast as in RGB. Sometimes the separation of luminance and
color is useful; e.g. sharpening only L-channel in Lab space can give better results than
sharpening all colors in RGB-space.


33
The L* a* b* (CIELAB) Color model, theory
Many high-end products, e.g. Adobe Photoshop
use CIELAB color model that can present more
colors than RGB.
Webers law from psychology states that the eye
is most sensitive to differences in color .
This leads to that in human vision system the
changes in intensity or color are equally
perceived if the RATIO of the changes are the
same. This leads to logarithmic relationship
between equally perceived units. *)
In CIELAB space the units that are quantified
are differences perceived in COLOR and
BRIGHTNESS.
CIELAB uses 1/3 power instead of logarithm and
uses three values L*, a*, and b* where L*
roughly corresponds to luminance and a*, b*
specify together specify colorfulness and hue.
L is specified as the middle bar in the middle.
The color wheel moves up with increasing
luminance
*) Again see Li & Drew for reference
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The L* a* b* (CIELAB) Color model
IN L*a*b* the color difference is defined as
Where
Here X
n
, Y
n
, Z
n
are values of
the white point
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The L* a* b* Color model
Auxiliary definitions are; Chroma is is a
scale for colorfulness, and hue is
tone:
The L*a*b* colors cane be presented
according to the diagram attached
Roughly maximum a corresponds to red
and minimum to green; maximum b
corresponds to yellow and minimum b
blue.
The chroma is a scale of colorfulness
with more saturated colors at the outside
of the CIELAB wheel at each brightness
L* level, and more washed-out
(desaturated) colors near the central of
the achromatic axis. The HUE angle cab
be said to express color
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CMY and CMYK
CMY is the subtractive color system used in printers. The
model is mathematically:

Black color is obtained by adding all C, M, Y in full amount. However
it is difficult to obtain full black and doing it from black ink would be
cheaper. In printers black is then removed from CMY proportions and
replaced by black ink. This is called undercolor removal. The new
color definitions including this method are below. K is called key
The reverse transform is as follows
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HSL Color space
(hue, saturation, and luminance)
The acronym stands for hue, saturation, and luminance.
This method of describing colors is also known as HSB
(hue, saturation, and brightness), HSI (hue, saturation,
and intensity), or HSV (hue, saturation, and value).

The hue describes the position on the spectrum where
the color is located (angle on color wheel), with red at
the low end of the spectrum and violet at the high end of
the spectrum. This number can be either an 8-bit value
(a number between 0-255), a percentage (0-100
percent), or a number between 0-359 (representing the
degrees on a color wheel).


The saturation describes how bright the color is, between gray at the low end and very bright at the
high end. This number can be either an 8-bit value or a percentage.

The luminance (intensity or brightness) describes where on the scale between black and white the
color falls. This method of describing color is easy for many artists to use, and it is usually used only in
the interface of a graphics program. Once the graphic is saved, it is converted to RGB, Palletized, or
CMYK color.

The only time this color definition method is used natively is by color television, where it is referred to
as YUV (Y-signal, U-signal, and V-signal.) The Y-signal represents the intensity, and is the only part of
the signal a black-and-white television set uses. The U- and V-signals define a color spectrum that a
color television uses to choose which color to display each pixel.

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xvYCC or Extended-gamut YCC (also called
x.v.Color); modified from Wikipedia *)
xvYCC or Extended-gamut YCC (also x.v.Color) is a color space that can be
used in the video electronics of television sets to support a gamut 1.8 times as
large as that of the sRGB color space.[1] xvYCC was specified by the IEC in
October 2005 and published in J anuary 2006 as IEC 61966-2-4.

xvYCC was motivated by the fact that modern display and capture technologies
often have underlying RGB primaries with significantly higher saturation than the
traditional CRT displays, so could display/capture a wider color gamut. But these
devices have been unable to do this without upsetting basic calibration, as all
existing video storage and transmission systems are based on CRT primaries,
and are hence limited to the CRT gamut. xvYCC-encoded video retains the same
color primaries and white point as the basic BT.709, and uses either a BT.601 or
BT.709 RGB-to-YCC conversion matrix and encoding. This allows it to travel
through existing digital YCC data paths, and any colors within the normal gamut
will be compatible.

*) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XvYCC, 21.9.2009


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x.v.Color, continued
But xvYCC permits YCC values that, while within the encoding range of YCC, have
chroma values outside the range 16240, or that correspond to negative RGB values,
and hence would not have previously been valid. These are used to encode more
saturated colors. For example, a cyan that lies outside the basic gamut of the
primaries can be encoded as "green plus blue minus red".[3]
These extra-gamut colors can then be displayed by a device whose underlying
technology is not limited by the standard primaries.
In a paper published by Society for Information Display in 2006, the authors mapped
the 769 colors in the Munsell Color Cascade to the BT.709 space and to the xvYCC
space. 55% of the Munsell colors could be mapped to the sRGB gamut, but 100% of
those colors could map to the xvYCC gamut.[4] Deeper hues can be created - for
example a deeper red by giving the opposing color (cyan) a negative coefficient.
A mechanism for signaling xvYCC support and transmitting the gamut boundary
definition for xvYCC has been defined in the HDMI 1.3 Specification. No new
mechanism is required for transmitting the xvYCC data itself, as it is compatible with
HDMI's existing YCbCr formats, but the display needs to signal its readiness to
accept the extra-gamut xvYCC values, and the source needs to signal the actual
gamut in use to help the display to intelligently adapt extreme colors to its own gamut
limitations.
This should not be confused with HDMI 1.3's other new color feature, Deep Color.
This is a separate feature that increases the precision of brightness and color
information, and is independent of xvYCC.
xvYCC is not supported by DVD-Video or Blu-ray, but is supported by the high-
definition recording format AVCHD.


40
Summary of colors
Additi ve color mixing:

The primary colors of the human visual system are red,
green, and blue. No combination of two primary colors can
reproduce a third primary color.

Combinations of the primary colors will reproduce a wider
range of colors than can be reproduced using any other
three colors.
Combinations of primary colors follow the rules of additive
color mixing.
red +green =yellow
green +blue =cyan
blue +red =magenta
red +green +blue =white
no light =black

Systems that work by additive color mixing include: movie
film, photographic prints & slides, television and computer
displays

The secondary colors of the human visual system are cyan,
magenta, and yellow.

A complementary color is formed by subtracting a primary
color from white light. Every secondary color is the
complement of a primary color.
white - red =cyan
white - green =magenta
white - blue =yellow


Subtractive color mixing:
Combinations of the secondary colors
(pigments) follow the rules of subtractive color
mixing.
cyan +magenta =blue
magenta +yellow =red
yellow +cyan =green
cyan +magenta +yellow =black
(though the quality of this black is
poor)
no pigment =white

Systems that work by subtractive color mixing
include:
three-color printing
pigment mixing (as in custom paints)

Every primary color is the complement of a
secondary color.
white - cyan =red
white - magenta =green
white - yellow =blue

Combining complementary colors of light
produces light that looks white. As a result,
complementary colors are sometimes called
opposite colors.
red +cyan =white
green +magenta =white
blue +yellow =white
Mathematical equations exist fro converting between color spaces, see e.g. *) R. Gonzalez, R. Woods, Digital
image processing, 3rd ed. 2008, ISBN 0-13-168728-x
**)Ze-Nian Li, Mark S. Drew, Fundamentals of Multimedia, Prentice Hall, NJ (USA), 2004. ISBN 0-013-061872-1
41
Colors in Digital Video
42
CAMERA PICTURE / TV PICTURE FORMATION
AND INTERFACES
In digital cameras and color TV system the picture is broken to RGB-
components in the still / video camera. This can be done by filters or
prisms. The number of imaging cells (CMOS or CCD) can also vary:
There can be 3 for high quality / professional video cameras. In digital
still cameras and lower cost video cameras there is one CMOS cell or
CCD device and a colour filter in front of it for different color components
of the picture.
43
Color models in video
Color definitons in digital video are laregly bsed on concepts of
analogue TV. Commonly separately defined Luminance
(corroesponding to black and white TV signal) data is associated
with Chroma carrying color information.
YUV color model
Initially used in PAL analog video
A version now also used in internatilallly standardised CCIR 601
digital video
The signal is composed of Luminance (Y) being nearl the CIE
luminace value. Y for gamma corrected RGB signals is:
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Chroma in YUV model
Chroma is the colorfulness signal = Difference between color and
reference white signal at the same luminance level.
Chroma is presented by color differences is U and V as follows:
Substituting Y from normal definition we get all components as
follows from gamma corrected RGB signal:
RGB can be obtained by inverting the matrix.
Now for grey signal R,G and B are the same, say e.g. k. Thus
R=G=B=k. Now because Y is:
The Y value is also k (e.g. for R=G=B=1 Y is 1 (sum of the
coefficients is the =1). Thus, with the grey signal U=V=0.
This was (is) useful for making B&W TV compatible for color TV-signal.

Ref: Ze-Nian Li, Mark S. Drew, Fundamentals of Multimedia, Prentice Hall, NJ (USA), 2004. ISBN 0-013-061872-1
45
Scaling in YUV model, YPbPr
For actual implementation U an V are rescaled to get a more
convenient maximum and minimum.
For analog video U and V are limited to +/-0.5 * maximum of Y
YPbPr: Actual voltages are in another non-normalized range, e.g. of
the Y = 0..700 mV. The rescaled U and V called Pb and Pr are in
the range +/-350 mV. This is called (analog) COMPONENT VIDEO
(3 signals), In this context YUV is called YPbPr.

COMPOSITE VIDEO (analog):
U and V are QAM modulated to one chroma signal (at fc=4.43
color sub-carrier in PAL):

46
YCbCr Color model
The international standard for component DIGITAL video is ITU-R
BT.601-4 (known as rec. 601 )
This standard uses yet another color space: Y C
b
C
r
, often simply
written as YCbCr
YCbCr is used in J PEG, and MPEG standards and is closely related to
YUV
In some software systems the values are shifted by 0.5 to make them
0..1. Then:
Summing these, the definition for rec. 601 digital video is:
Ref: Ze-Nian Li, Mark S. Drew, Fundamentals of Multimedia, Prentice Hall, NJ (USA), 2004. ISBN 0-013-061872-1
47
RGB - YCbCb signal processing
The Matrix converts the RGB signal to Luminance
(brightness) Y:

Y = 0.299R+ 0.587G + 0.114B
Gamma corrected signal is:
Y = 0.299R + 0.587G + 0.114B

And two color difference signals (C
r,
C
b
) :
C
r
=0.713 (R-Y) = 0.701R0.587G 0.114B
(corresponds to V-signal)

C
b
= 0.564 (B-Y) = -0.169R 0.331G 0.500B
(corresponds to U-signal)
The Y, Cr, and Cb signals are carried by
the TV system to the TV receiver, that
converts them back to RGB signals for
display in TV. (No scaling by adding 0.5
done here)

Human vision system (HVS) says that human eye is less sensitive lacking detail in colors (Chrominance
=Chroma) than for brightness (Luminance =Luma). To take advantage of this picture signal is divided to
luminance and Chrominance signals for separate treatment in compression, storage and transport.
The conversion RGB <- >YUV is linear and works to both directions. Display uses RGB.
48
R
G
B B-Y
R-Y
Y
Stereo
Audio
L
R
C
Y
Y/C, S-Video
Matrix
Composite video
R
G
B B-Y, Cb
R-Y, Cr
Y
Stereo
Audio
L
R
C
Y
Component video:
Y, Cr, Cb signal (or
YUV-signal)
Matrix
QAM Modulation and
Modulation to IF-carrier
at 4.43 MHz
Luminance
and Chroma
combined in
one cable
Y Cr Cb / Y/C / S-video Interface
Chroma
Luma
49
Footroom, headroom
Rec. 601 specifies in practise 8-bit video with Y value only between
16-235. Values below 16 are called footroom (sometimes used for
blacker than black or other processing) and headroom above 235.
Cr and Cb have bit values are in range 16..240. They are scaled by
the +128 offset to have a range of +/-112.
Values 0 and 255 are used for sync purposes.
Precaution: In different systems and in different areas, USA, J apan,
Europe and systems footroom and headroom may vary. Could
cause problems / change of video.

See x.v. Color also for exceptions

50
Extra slides, not part of course
51
The painter's color wheel.

The painter's color wheel is promoted by painters and art teachers.

The misidentification of these colors as "primary" is an historical artifact. A
greater range of colors can be reproduced using cyan, magenta, and yellow
than can be reproduced using red, yellow, and blue.

The primary colors are not red, yellow, and blue. It is a convenient way to
understand how to mimic one color by mixing red, yellow, and blue. But these
colors do not satisfy the definition of primary colors in that they can't
reproduce the widest variety of colors when combined.

Cyan, magenta, and yellow have a greater chromatic range as evidenced by
their ability to produce a reasonable black. No combination of red, yellow, and
blue pigments will approach black as closely as do cyan, magenta, and
yellow.

J ohann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), student of the arts, theatrical
director, and author (Iphigenia at Taurus, Egmont, Faust). Lots of interesting
descriptive information on the subjective nature of color, which many
physicists of his day ignored, but does not propose a physical model of color.

The theory of colors, in particular, has suffered much, and its progress has
been incalculably retarded by having been mixed up with optics generally, a
science which cannot dispense with mathematics; whereas the theory of
colors, in strictness, may be investigated quite independently of optics.

Color mixing rules from the
English translation of
Goethe's Theory of Colors
(1810).
The painter's color wheel.
52
Painters color wheel, continued

Color is a law of nature in relation with the sense of sight. It is an elementary phenomenon in nature
adapted to the sense of vision.

It is not light, in an abstract sense, but a luminous image that we have to consider.
Yellow, blue, and red, may be assumed as pure elementary colors, already existing; from these, violet,
orange, and green, are the simplest combined results.

That all the colors mixed together produce white, is an absurdity which people have credulously been
accustomed to repeat for a century, in opposition to the evidence of their senses.



Rules with the painters color wheel:

The "primary colors" of the painter's color wheel are red, yellow, and blue
When combining paints (or other similar pigment carriers) in equal quantities:
red +yellow =orange
yellow +blue =green
blue +red =purple (which is not the same as violet)
red +yellow +blue =brown
no paint =white