Improved gamut-constrained illuminant estimation by combining modified category correlation

In this paper we propose a new gamut-constrained illuminant estimation framework using an improved category correlation method. Firstly, we obtain a set of feasible illuminations by the original gamut mapping method. Then, the probability of each feasible illumination as the ground truth illuminant is calculated according to its ability to map the corrected image onto specific colors using the improved category correlation method. Differently from the original category correlation method, to decrease the effect of image noise and the computation complexity, instead of using an entire pixel set for estimating the probability of portable illuminant, superpixel segments of an input image are used in our improved method. And the best illuminant estimate is given on the basis of the measure of the degree to which each feasible illumination is consistent with the image data. Experiment results prove that our improved method shows better current state-of-the-art performance Gamut mapping methods. (C) 2013 The Japan Society of Applied Physics