Towards an image-based brightness model for self-luminous stimuli

Brightness is one of the most important perceptual correlates of color appearance models (CAMs) when self-luminous stimuli are targeted. However, the vast majority of existing CAMs adopt the presence of a uniform background surrounding the stimulus, which severely limits their practical application in lighting. In this paper, a study on the brightness perception of a neutral circular stimulus surrounded by a non-uniform background consisting of a neutral ring-shaped luminous area and a dark surround is presented. The ring-shaped luminous area is presented with 3 thicknesses (0.33 cm, 0.67 cm and 1.00 cm), at 4 angular distances to the edge of the central stimulus (1.2°, 6.4°, 11.3° and 16.1°) and at 3 luminance levels (90 cd/m², 335 cd/m², 1200 cd/m²). In line with the literature, the results of the visual matching experiments show that the perceived brightness decreases in presence of a ring and the effect is maximal at the highest luminance of the ring, for the largest thickness and at the closest distance. Based on the observed results, an image-based model inspired by the physiology of the retina is proposed. The model includes the calculation of cone-fundamental weighted spectral radiance, scattering in the eye, cone compression and receptive field post-receptor organization. The wide receptive field assures an adaptive shift determined by both the adaptation to the stimulus and to the background. It is shown that the model performs well in predicting the matching experiments, including the impact of the thickness, the distance and the intensity of the ring, showing its potential to become the basic framework of a Lighting Appearance Model.