Characterization of RGB-Polarization Sensor-Based Cameras

This work presents a characterization method for cameras with trichromatic RGB color filter array and polarization layer (RGB-P) sensor-based imaging devices. Such sensors enable the reconstruction of color and polarization of registered scene elements, which is an important requirement in computer vision. We will present spectral responsivity measurements, which reveal different sensitivities for various color and polarization channels. Furthermore, we will discuss and model an observed chromaticity shift in registered camera signals for polarized irradiance. Both lead to inaccurate estimation of color and polarization features. In order to overcome these issues, we will present a neural-network-based model for color and polarization feature reconstruction. Essentially, it considers spectral sensitivity for polarized irradiance. Furthermore, the model takes into account that, for visualization, the color signals have to be a linear combination of polarization channels. Models were trained for selected natural and synthetic reflectance sets, as well as commonly used lighting. We evaluated the resulting performance, which yielded robust results. The method can be employed for an estimation of color and polarization features for RGB-P imaging devices. Applications can be found in photography, as well as machine and computer vision, in which object surface color rendering plays a major role.