Basic Principles of Surface Reflectance

Thanks to Srinivasa Narasimhan, Ravi Ramamoorthi, Pat Hanrahan

Radiometry and Image Formation
 Image Intensities

source sensor

Need to consider
normal
light propagation in
a cone

surface
element

Image intensities = f ( normal, surface reflectance, illumination )

Note: Image intensity understanding is an under-constrained problem!

Differential Solid Angle and Spherical Polar Coordinates
 Radiometric Concepts

source d (solid angle subtended by dA )

dA'
R (foreshortened area)
r d
i
dA (surface area) dA

dA' dA cos i
(1) Solid Angle : d 2
( steradian ) (4) Surface Radiance (tricky) :
R R2
d
What is the solid angle subtended by a hemisphere? L 2
(watts / m steradian )
(dA cos r ) d
d
(2) Radiant Intensity of Source : J ( watts / steradian )
d Flux emitted per unit foreshortened area
per unit solid angle.
Light Flux (power) emitted per unit solid angle
L depends on direction r

d Surface can radiate into whole hemisphere.

(3) Surface Irradiance : E ( watts / m2 )
dA L depends on reflectance properties of surface.
Light Flux (power) incident per unit surface area.
Does not depend on where the light is coming from!
The Fundamental Assumption in Vision

Lighting

No Change in
Radiance

Surface Camera
 Radiance Properties
Radiance is constant as it propagates along ray
Derived from conservation of flux
Fundamental in Light Transport.

d 1 L1d1dA1 L2 d 2 dA2 d 2

d1 dA2 r 2 d 2 dA1 r 2

dA1dA2
d1dA1 2
d 2 dA2
r
L1 L2
 Relationship between Scene and Image Brightness

Before light hits the image plane:

Scene Image
Scene Lens
Radiance L Irradiance E

Linear Mapping!

After light hits the image plane:

Image Camera Measured

Irradiance E Electronics Pixel Values, I

Non-linear Mapping!

Can we go from measured pixel value, I, to scene radiance, L?

 Relation Between Image Irradiance E and Scene Radiance L

image plane
surface patch

d s dAs

di
image patch
d L
dAi

f z

Solid angles of the double cone (orange and green):

2
dAi cos dAs cos dAs cos z
di d s
( f / cos ) 2 ( z / cos ) 2 dAi cos f
Solid angle subtended by lens:
(1)
d 2
cos
d L (2)
4 ( z / cos ) 2
 Relation Between Image Irradiance E and Scene Radiance L
image plane
surface patch

d s dAs

di
image patch
dAi d L

f z

Flux received by lens from dAs = Flux projected onto image dAi

L (dAs cos ) d L E dAi (3)

2
d
From (1), (2), and (3): E L cos 4
4 f

Image irradiance is proportional to Scene Radiance!

Small field of view Effects of 4th power of cosine are small.
 Relation between Pixel Values I and Image Irradiance E

Image Camera Measured

Irradiance E Electronics Pixel Values, I

The camera response function relates image irradiance at the image plane
to the measured pixel intensity values.

g:E I

(Grossberg and Nayar)

 Radiometric Calibration
Important preprocessing step for many vision and graphics algorithms such as
photometric stereo, invariants, de-weathering, inverse rendering, image based rendering, etc.

g 1 : I E
Use a color chart with precisely known reflectances.

255

g 1 ?

Pixel Values
g

0
0 ? 1
90% 59.1% 36.2% 19.8% 9.0% 3.1%
Irradiance = const * Reflectance

Use more camera exposures to fill up the curve.

Method assumes constant lighting on all patches and works best when source is
far away (example sunlight).
Unique inverse exists because g is monotonic and smooth for all cameras.
The Problem of Dynamic Range
 The Problem of Dynamic Range
Dynamic Range: Range of brightness values measurable with a camera

(Hood 1986)

Todays Cameras: Limited Dynamic Range

High Exposure Image Low Exposure Image

We need 5-10 million values to store all brightnesses around us.

But, typical 8-bit cameras provide only 256 values!!
 High Dynamic Range Imaging

Capture a lot of images with different exposure settings.

Apply radiometric calibration to each camera.

Combine the calibrated images (for example, using averaging weighted by exposures).
(Mitsunaga)

(Debevec)

Images taken with a fish-eye lens of the sky show the wide range of brightnesses.
 Computer Vision: Building Machines that See

Lighting
Camera

Physical Models

Computer

Scene

Scene Interpretation

We need to understand the Geometric and Radiometric relations

between the scene and its image.
Computer Graphics: Rendering things that Look Real

Lighting
Camera

Physical Models

Computer

Scene

Scene Generation

We need to understand the Geometric and Radiometric relations

between the scene and its image.
Basic Principles of Surface Reflection
 Surface Appearance

source sensor

normal

surface
element

Image intensities = f ( normal, surface reflectance, illumination )

Surface Reflection depends on both the viewing and illumination direction.

BRDF: Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function

source
z
incident
direction viewing
direction

( i , i ) ( r , r )
normal
y

surface
x element

E surface ( i , i ) Irradiance at Surface in direction ( i , i )

Lsurface ( r , r ) Radiance of Surface in direction ( r , r )

Lsurface ( r , r )
BRDF : f ( i , i ; r , r )
E surface ( i , i )
 Important Properties of BRDFs
source
z
incident
direction viewing
direction

( i , i ) ( r , r )
normal
y

surface
x element
Rotational Symmetry (Isotropy):

Appearance does not change when surface is rotated about the normal.

BRDF is only a function of 3 variables : f ( i , r , i r )

Helmholtz Reciprocity: (follows from 2nd Law of Thermodynamics)

Appearance does not change when source and viewing directions are swapped.

f ( i , i ; r , r ) f ( r , r ; i , i )
Differential Solid Angle and Spherical Polar Coordinates
 Derivation of the Scene Radiance Equation Important!
From the definition of BRDF:

Lsurface ( r , r ) E surface ( i , i ) f ( i , i ; r , r )
Write Surface Irradiance in terms of Source Radiance:

L surface
( r , r ) L ( i , i ) f ( i , i ; r , r ) cos i di
src

Integrate over entire hemisphere of possible source directions:

Lsurface ( r , r ) (i ,i ) f (i , i ; r ,r ) cosi di
src
L
2
Convert from solid angle to theta-phi representation:
/2
Lsurface ( r , r ) (i , i ) f (i , i ; r , r ) cosi sin i di di
src
L
0
 Mechanisms of Surface Reflection
source

incident
direction surface
reflection

body
reflection
surface

Body Reflection: Surface Reflection:

Diffuse Reflection Specular Reflection

Matte Appearance Glossy Appearance
Non-Homogeneous Medium Highlights
Clay, paper, etc Dominant for Metals

Image Intensity = Body Reflection + Surface Reflection

 Mechanisms of Surface Reflection

Body Reflection: Surface Reflection:

Diffuse Reflection Specular Reflection

Matte Appearance Glossy Appearance
Non-Homogeneous Medium Highlights
Clay, paper, etc Dominant for Metals

Many materials exhibit both Reflections:

 Diffuse Reflection and Lambertian BRDF

source intensity I

incident
direction s normal n
i viewing
direction v
surface
element

Surface appears equally bright from ALL directions! (independent of v)

albedo
d
Lambertian BRDF is simply a constant : f ( i , i ; r , r )

d d
Surface Radiance : L I cos i I n.s

source intensity
Commonly used in Vision and Graphics!
Diffuse Reflection and Lambertian BRDF
White-out Conditions from an Overcast Sky

CANT perceive the shape of the snow covered terrain!

CAN perceive shape in regions

lit by the street lamp!!

WHY?
 Diffuse Reflection from Uniform Sky
/2
( r , r ) L ( i , i ) f ( i , i ; r , r ) cos i sin i d i di
surface src
L
0

Assume Lambertian Surface with Albedo = 1 (no absorption)

1
f ( i , i ; r , r )

Assume Sky radiance is constant
Lsrc ( i , i ) Lsky

Substituting in above Equation:

Lsurface ( r , r ) Lsky

Radiance of any patch is the same as Sky radiance !! (white-out condition)

 Specular Reflection and Mirror BRDF
source intensity I specular/mirror
direction r ( r , r )

incident
direction s normal n
( i , i )
viewing
surface direction v ( v , v )
element

Very smooth surface.

All incident light energy reflected in a SINGLE direction. (only when v= r)

Mirror BRDF is simply a double-delta function :
specular albedo

f ( i , i ; v , v ) s ( i v ) (i v )
Surface Radiance : L I s ( i v ) (i v )
 BRDFs of Glossy Surfaces

Delta Function too harsh a BRDF model

(valid only for polished mirrors and metals).

Many glossy surfaces show broader highlights in addition to specular reflection.

Example Models : Phong Model (no physical basis, but sort of works (empirical))

Torrance Sparrow model (physically based)

 Phong Model: An Empirical Approximation
An illustration of the angular falloff of highlights:

Very commonly used in Computer Graphics

nshiny
L I s (cos )
 Phong Examples

These spheres illustrate the Phong model as lighting

direction and nshiny are varied:
Components of Surface Reflection
 A Simple Reflection Model - Dichromatic Reflection
Observed Image Color = a x Body Color + b x Specular Reflection Color

Klinker-Shafer-Kanade 1988

Color of Source
(Specular reflection)
Does not specify any specific model for
Diffuse/specular reflection G
Color of Surface
(Diffuse/Body Reflection)
B
Dror, Adelson, Wilsky
 Specular Reflection and Mirror BRDF - RECALL
source intensity I specular/mirror
direction r ( r , r )

incident
direction s normal n
( i , i )
viewing
surface direction v ( v , v )
element

Very smooth surface.

All incident light energy reflected in a SINGLE direction. (only when v = r )

Mirror BRDF is simply a double-delta function :

specular albedo

f ( i , i ; v , v ) s ( i v ) (i v )
Surface Radiance : L I s ( i v ) (i v )
 Glossy Surfaces

Delta Function too harsh a BRDF model

(valid only for highly polished mirrors and metals).

Many glossy surfaces show broader highlights in addition to mirror reflection.

Surfaces are not perfectly smooth they show micro-surface geometry (roughness).

Example Models : Phong model

Torrance Sparrow model

Blurred Highlights and Surface Roughness

Roughness
 Phong Model: An Empirical Approximation
How to model the angular falloff of highlights:

N N H
R
-S
E

nshiny nshiny
L I s ( R.E ) L I s ( N .H )
Phong Model Blinn-Phong Model
R S 2( N .S ) N H (E S ) / 2
Sort of works, easy to compute
But not physically based (no energy conservation and reciprocity).
Very commonly used in computer graphics.
 Phong Examples

These spheres illustrate the Phong model as lighting direction and

nshiny are varied:
 Those Were the Days

In trying to improve the quality of the synthetic

images, we do not expect to be able to display
the object exactly as it would appear in reality,
with texture, overcast shadows, etc. We hope
only to display an image that approximates the
real object closely enough to provide a certain
degree of realism.
Bui Tuong Phong, 1975