Perceptually-based color difference for complex images

Faithful color reproduction of digital images requires a reliable measure to compare such images in order to evaluate the reproduction performance. The conventional methods attempt to apply the CIE Colorimetry based color difference equations, s uch as CIELAB, CMC, CIE94 and CIEDE2000, to complex images on a pixel-by-pixel basis, and calculates the overall color difference as the averaged difference of each pixel in the image. This method is simple and straightforward but often does not represent the color difference perceived by human visual system. This paper proposes a new algorithm for calculating the overall color difference between complex images. The results show that this new metric corresponds more closely to the color difference perceived by human visual system.