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

Area of Science:

• Visual perception
• Color appearance models
• Lighting technology

Background:

• Existing color appearance models (CAMs) often assume uniform backgrounds, limiting their use in real-world lighting.
• Brightness perception is a key factor in CAMs for self-luminous stimuli.

Purpose of the Study:

• Investigate brightness perception of a neutral stimulus with a non-uniform background (neutral ring, dark surround).
• Develop and validate an image-based model for predicting brightness perception under these conditions.

Main Methods:

• Visual matching experiments with varying ring thickness, distance, and luminance.
• Proposed an image-based model incorporating retinal physiology (cone response, scattering, receptive fields).

Main Results:

• Perceived brightness decreased with the presence of a ring, an effect amplified by higher ring luminance, thickness, and closer proximity.
• The proposed model accurately predicted experimental results, including the influence of ring parameters.

Conclusions:

• The non-uniform background significantly impacts brightness perception.
• The developed model, inspired by retinal function, shows promise for a new generation of Lighting Appearance Models (LAMs).