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Updated: Mar 31, 2026

Applying Hyperspectral Reflectance Imaging to Investigate the Palettes and the Techniques of Painters
Published on: June 18, 2021
A commentary on 'Amplitude spectra of natural images'
1Department of Physiology, Development & Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
Abstract:
Tolhurst, Tadmor and Tang Chao (Ophthalmic Physiol Opt 1992; 12: 229-232) published their analyses of the Fourier spectra of 135 digitised monochrome photographs of everyday scenes. In 2015, this would be a trivial exercise, but in 1992, this stretched emerging computer technology to its desktop limits. The short paper made an impact because it provided a handle for extending vision science beyond laboratory stimuli such as sinewave gratings into a real world of real visual scenes and real visual tasks.
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