Applying image-based color palette for achieving high image quality of displays

In the highly competitive display market, manufacturers continuously develop new technologies to improve the image quality of displays. However, color measurement and visual assessment are time-consuming to production lines. A new method to measure and improve color quality of the displays automatically therefore, is urgently needed to the manufacturers. This article proposes a familiar color correction strategy to optimize the colors of different displays by means of creating an image-based color palette which enables color correction for familiar objects (e.g., facial skin, blue sky, or green grass) in the multidisplay systems. To produce the image-based color palette, the 8-bit RGB value of each pixel in an image is transformed to L*d*n* (lightness/dominant color/nondominant color) color channels, and the dominant-color regions in an image are subsequently extracted from the dominant color (d*) channel. The memory color data of familiar objects can be set in reference monitor in advance to determine the dominant color (d*) channel. Then a series of palette colors are generated around a displayed image. The color palette will be displayed as a target for two-dimensional colorimeter shooting to obtain the measured color data. The familiar color correction model was established based on a first-order polynomial regression to achieve a polynomial fit between the measured color data and the reference color data on the color palette. The proposed method provides a solution to correct familiar colors on a displayed image, and maintains the original color gamut and tone characteristic in the multidisplay systems simultaneously. It is possible to achieve the preferred intent of the displayed images by using the proposed familiar color correction method. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 39, 154–168, 2014