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Updated: Jul 20, 2026

Visualizing Visual Adaptation
Published on: April 24, 2017
Cone contrasts do not predict color constancy
I J Murray1, A Daugirdiene, R Stanikunas
1Faculty of Life Sciences, Moffat Building, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom. ian.j.murray@manchester.ac.uk
Abstract:
A successive, asymmetric color-matching paradigm was used to investigate the link between cone contrast and the stability of perceived colors. We measured the perceived color shifts of 10 Munsell samples, induced by test illuminant A, simulated in u'v' color space. The capacity of the visual system to resist these shifts, otherwise known as color constancy, is measured in terms of the Brunswik ratio, BR. Cone contrasts are calculated with respect to either the physical or perceived background. Subjective cone contrasts show a better fit to the von Kries law than those based on the physical background. Complete cone adaptation occurs when color constancy is high. However we show conditions where cone adaptation seems complete but color constancy is poor.
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