FAST GAMUT CHECKING AND INVERSION OF SPECTRAL COLORS

• US 20100277493A1
• Filed: 05/04/2009
• Published: 11/04/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/04/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Tin, Siu-Kei
• Granted Patent: US 8,207,982 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/589
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/603 controlled by characteristics of the picture signal generator or the picture reproducer
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/6058 Reduction of colour to a range of reproducible colours, e.g. to ink- reproducible colour gamut

Abstract

Color management using a discrete spectral gamut descriptor. A multi-spectral color image is converted to a spectrally-based ICS representation. In response to a determination that an ICS value is included in a discrete spectral gamut descriptor, the ICS value is converted into a destination-side color. Otherwise, the ICS color value is spectrally gamut mapped, and the gamut-mapped ICS value is converted into a destination-side color. The discrete spectral gamut descriptor includes a collection of discrete cells of a subdivided bounding box that includes a set of sample points in the ICS that span the spectral gamut of the destination device. Each cell has an attribute that represents an initial guess for a destination-side color for ICS values included in the cell, and the attribute is used to convert ICS values included in the cell into destination-side colors.

Claims

1. A color management method which converts a source-side color in a source device dependent color space into a counterpart destination-side color in a destination device dependent color space, said method comprising:

accessing a multi-spectral color image in the source device dependent color space generated using a multi-spectral source device;

converting the multi-spectral color image into a spectral reflectance representation in a spectral reflectance space;

converting the spectral reflectance representation into a spectrally-based Interim Connection Space (ICS) representation in a spectrally-based ICS;

determining whether a spectrally-based ICS value of the spectrally-based ICS representation is within a spectral gamut of an intended destination device, by determining whether the spectrally-based ICS value is included in a discrete spectral gamut descriptor that represents the spectral gamut of the destination device;

in response to a determination that the spectrally-based ICS value is included in the discrete spectral gamut descriptor, converting the spectrally-based ICS value into a destination-side color in a destination device dependent color space of the destination device; and

in response to a determination that the spectrally-based ICS value is not included in the discrete spectral gamut descriptor, spectrally gamut mapping the spectrally-based ICS color value onto the spectral gamut of the destination device, and converting the gamut-mapped spectrally-based ICS value into a destination-side color in the destination device dependent color space of the destination device,

wherein the discrete spectral gamut descriptor represents the spectral gamut of the destination device as a collection of discrete cells of a subdivided bounding box that includes a set of sample points in the spectrally-based ICS that span the spectral gamut of the destination device, and

wherein each cell has an attribute that represents an initial guess for a destination-side color for ICS values included in the cell, and the attribute is used to convert ICS values included in the cell into destination-side colors.

2. The color management method according to claim 1, wherein the discrete spectral gamut descriptor is constructed by performing the steps of:

generating sample points that span the destination device dependent color space of the destination device;

converting each of the generated sample points into spectral reflectance values in the spectral reflectance space;

converting the spectral reflectance values into spectrally-based ICS values in the spectrally-based ICS;

calculating a maximum coordinate value and a minimum coordinate value in each dimension of the spectrally-based ICS to define the bounding box that includes the ICS sample points;

subdividing the bounding box into the collection of discrete cells such that there are N intervals in each dimension;

generating a list of cell indices that represents the collection of discrete cells in the discrete spectral gamut descriptor, wherein the list is generated by generating a cell index for each cell including one or more sample points based on the ICS coordinates of the sample points, and adding the generated cell indices to the list of cell indices;

sorting the list of cell indices; and

associating an attribute with each index in the list of cell indices, wherein each attribute provides representative information about sample points included in the cell corresponding to the associated index.

3. The color management method according to claim 2, wherein in the sample point generating step, the sample points are filtered based on specified constraints.

4. The color management method according to claim 2, wherein each attribute is a device value for a representative sample point lying inside the corresponding cell.

5. The color management method according to claim 4, wherein the representative sample point is a sample point that is closest to the center of the cell.

6. The color management method according to claim 4, wherein the representative sample point is a sample point that has a lowest value in the black channel.

7. The color management method according to claim 4, wherein the representative sample point is a sample point that has a highest value in the black channel.

8. The color management method according to claim 4, wherein the representative sample point is a sample point that has the highest purity, in the sense that it has the most number of zero channels.

9. The color management method according to claim 2, wherein in the determining step it is determined whether the spectrally-based ICS value is included in the bounding box of the discrete spectral gamut descriptor, and a determination that the spectrally-based ICS value is not included in the bounding box corresponds to a determination that the spectrally-based ICS value is not included in the discrete spectral gamut descriptor, and wherein in response to a determination that the spectrally-based ICS value is included in the bounding box, it is further determined whether the spectrally-based ICS value is included in a cell of the discrete spectral gamut descriptor, and a determination that the spectrally-based ICS value is not included in a cell of the discrete spectral gamut descriptor corresponds to a determination that the spectrally-based ICS value is not included in the discrete spectral gamut descriptor.

10. The color management method according to claim 9, wherein in the determining step, it is determined whether the spectrally-based ICS value is included in a cell of the discrete spectral gamut descriptor by calculating a cell index for the spectrally-based ICS value based on ICS coordinates of the ICS value, and searching for the calculated cell index in the list of sorted cell indices, wherein a search result indicating that the calculated index is included in the list of cell indices corresponds to a determination that the spectrally-based ICS value is included in a cell of the discrete spectral gamut descriptor.

11. The color management method according to claim 10, wherein a binary search is performed to search for the calculated cell index in the list of sorted cell indices.

12. The color management method according to claim 10, wherein in response to a determination that the spectrally-based ICS value is included in the discrete spectral gamut descriptor, an attribute associated with the calculated index is retrieved, and the spectrally-based ICS value is converted into a destination-side color using the retrieved attribute as an initial guess for the destination-side color.

13. The color management method according to claim 2, wherein the coordinates of the ICS are scaled such that one unit distance in the ICS corresponds to a Just Noticeable Difference (JND), and N is chosen such that the resolution of each cell is a specified multiple of the JND.

14. The color management method according to claim 2, wherein N is chosen such that N is less than an upper bound that is directly related to storage space occupied by the discrete spectral gamut descriptor on a computer-readable storage medium.

15. The color management method according to claim 2, wherein the coordinates of the ICS are scaled such that one unit distance in the ICS corresponds to a Just Noticeable Difference (JND), and wherein N is chosen such that the resolution of each cell is a specified multiple of the JND, and such that N is less than an upper bound that is directly related to storage space occupied by the discrete spectral gamut descriptor on a computer-readable storage medium.

16. The color management method according to claim 2, wherein spectrally gamut mapping the spectrally-based ICS color value onto within the spectral gamut of the destination device comprises the steps of:

determining whether the spectrally-based ICS value is included in a continuous spectral gamut boundary descriptor that represents the continuous spectral gamut boundary of the destination device; and

in response to a determination that the spectrally-based ICS value is not included in the continuous spectral gamut boundary descriptor, projecting the spectrally-based ICS color value onto within the continuous spectral gamut of the destination device.

17. The color management method according to claim 2, wherein after performing spectral gamut mapping, it is determined whether the gamut-mapped spectrally-based ICS value is included in the discrete spectral gamut descriptor,

wherein in response to a determination that the gamut-mapped ICS value is included in the discrete spectral gamut descriptor, an attribute associated with a cell of the discrete spectral gamut descriptor that includes the gamut-mapped ICS value is retrieved, and the gamut-mapped ICS value is converted into a destination-side color using the retrieved attribute as an initial guess for the destination-side color;

and

wherein in response to a determination that the gamut-mapped ICS value is not included in the discrete spectral gamut descriptor, a cell in the discrete spectral gamut descriptor closest to the gamut-mapped ICS value is identified, an attribute associated with the identified cell is retrieved, and the gamut-mapped ICS value is converted into a destination-side color using the retrieved attribute as an initial guess for the destination-side color.

18. The color management method according to claim 1, wherein multi-spectral source devices include multi-spectral digital cameras, and wherein destination devices include multi-ink printers, reflective display devices, and electronic paper.

19. The color management method according to claim 1, wherein the discrete spectral gamut descriptor is constructed by performing the steps of:

performing a coarse sampling to generate sample points that sparsely span the destination device dependent color space of the destination device;

converting each of the generated sample points into spectral reflectance values in the spectral reflectance space;

converting the spectral reflectance values into spectrally-based ICS values in the spectrally-based ICS;

calculating a maximum coordinate value and a minimum coordinate value in each dimension of the spectrally-based ICS to define the bounding box that includes the ICS sample points;

subdividing the bounding box into the collection of discrete cells such that there are N intervals in each dimension;

generating a list of cell indices that represents the collection of discrete cells in the discrete spectral gamut descriptor by performing a finer sampling to generate sample points that densely span the destination device dependent color space of the destination device, and immediately processing each sample point generated from the finer sampling, without storing the sample points generated form the finer sampling.

20. The color management method according to claim 19, wherein after a new sample point is generated form the finer sampling, the new sample point is processed by performing the steps of:

converting the generated sample point into a spectral reflectance value in the spectral reflectance space;

converting the spectral reflectance value into a spectrally-based ICS value in the spectrally-based ICS;

determining whether the spectrally-based ICS value is included in the bounding box;

in response to a determination that the spectrally-based ICS value is included in the bounding box, generating a cell index for the ICS sample point based on the ICS coordinate of the sample point, and adding the generated cell index to the list of cell indices; and

associating an attribute with the generated cell index, wherein the attribute provides representative information about sample points included in the cell corresponding to the associated index.

21. The color management method according to claim 1, further comprising:

generating the discrete spectral gamut descriptor that represents the spectral gamut of the destination device as a collection of discrete cells of a subdivided bounding box that includes a set of sample points in the spectrally-based ICS that span the spectral gamut of the destination device, wherein each cell has an attribute that represents an initial guess for a destination-side color for ICS values included in the cell, and the attribute is used to convert ICS values included in the cell into destination-side colors;

generating a convex hull by applying a hulling algorithm to the set of sample points in the discrete spectral gamut descriptor;

generating a discrete convex hull that includes the cells in the subdivided bounding box that have a non-empty intersection with the convex hull, wherein the determining step determines whether a spectrally-based ICS value of the spectrally-based ICS representation is within a spectral gamut of an intended destination device, by determining whether the spectrally-based ICS value is included in the discrete convex hull and the discrete spectral gamut descriptor,

wherein in response to a determination that the spectrally-based ICS value is included in the discrete convex hull, the spectrally-based ICS value is converted into a destination-side color in a destination device dependent color space of the destination device. and

wherein in response to a determination that the spectrally-based ICS value is not included in the discrete convex hull, the spectrally-based ICS color value is spectrally gamut mapped onto the spectral gamut of the destination device, and the gamut-mapped spectrally-based ICS value is converted into a destination-side color in the destination device dependent color space of the destination device.

22. The color management method according to claim 21, wherein the determination as to whether the spectrally-based ICS value is included in the discrete convex hull is performed first before proceeding to a determination as to whether the spectrally-based ICS value is included in the discrete spectral gamut descriptor.

23. A color management module which converts a source-side color in a source device dependent color space into a counterpart destination-side color in a destination device dependent color space, said color management module comprising:

an image generation module constructed to perform an accessing step in which a multi-spectral color image generated in the source device dependent color space using a multi-spectral source device is accessed;

a forward source device conversion module constructed to perform a converting step in which the multi-spectral color image is converted into a spectral reflectance representation in a spectral reflectance space;

an ICS conversion unit constructed to perform a converting step in which the spectral reflectance representation is converted into a spectrally-based Interim Connection Space (ICS) representation in a spectrally-based ICS;

a checking module constructed to perform a determining step in which it is determined whether a spectrally-based ICS value of the spectrally-based ICS representation is within a spectral gamut of an intended destination device, by determining whether the spectrally-based ICS value is included in a discrete spectral gamut descriptor that represents the spectral gamut of the destination device;

an inverse destination device color conversion module constructed to perform a converting step, responsive to a determination that the spectrally-based ICS value is included in the discrete spectral gamut descriptor, in which the spectrally-based ICS value is converted into a destination-side color in a destination device dependent color space of the destination device; and

a gamut mapping module constructed to perform a gamut mapping step, responsive to a determination that the spectrally-based ICS value is not included in the discrete spectral gamut descriptor, in which the spectrally-based ICS color value is spectrally gamut mapped onto the spectral gamut of the destination device, and in which the gamut-mapped spectrally-based ICS value is converted into a destination-side color in the destination device dependent color space of the destination device,

wherein the discrete spectral gamut descriptor represents the spectral gamut of the destination device as a collection of discrete cells of a subdivided bounding box that includes a set of sample points in the spectrally-based ICS that span the spectral gamut of the destination device, and

wherein each cell has an attribute that represents an initial guess for a destination-side color for ICS values included in the cell, and the attribute is used to convert ICS values included in the cell into destination-side colors.

24. The color management module according to claim 23, further comprising:

a sample point generation module constructed to perform a generating step in which sample points are generated that span the destination device dependent color space of the destination device;

a sample point reflectance conversion module constructed to perform a converting step in which each of the generated sample points is converted into spectral reflectance values in the spectral reflectance space;

a sample point ICS conversion module constructed to perform a converting step in which the spectral reflectance values are converted into spectrally-based ICS values in the spectrally-based ICS;

a bounding box calculation module constructed to perform a calculating step in which a maximum coordinate value and a minimum coordinate value in each dimension of the spectrally-based ICS are calculated to define the bounding box that includes the ICS sample points;

a subdividing module constructed to perform a subdividing step in which the bounding box is subdivided into the collection of discrete cells such that there are N intervals in each dimension;

a cell index generation module constructed to perform a generating step in which a list of cell indices that represents the collection of discrete cells in the discrete spectral gamut descriptor is generated, wherein the list is generated by generating a cell index for each cell including one or more sample points based on the ICS coordinates of the sample points, and adding the generated cell indices to the list of cell indices;

a sorting module constructed to perform a sorting step in which the list of cell indices is sorted; and

an attribute association module constructed to perform an associating step in which an attribute is associated with each index in the list of cell indices, wherein each attribute provides representative information about sample points included in the cell corresponding to the associated index.

25. The color management module according to claim 24, wherein the sample point generation module filters the sample points based on specified constraints.

26. The color management module according to claim 24, wherein each attribute is a device value for a representative sample point lying inside the corresponding cell.

27. The color management module according to claim 26, wherein the representative sample point is a sample point that is closest to the center of the cell.

28. The color management module according to claim 26, wherein the representative sample point is a sample point that has a lowest value in the black channel.

29. The color management module according to claim 26, wherein the representative sample point is a sample point that has a highest value in the black channel.

30. The color management module according to claim 26, wherein the representative sample point is a sample point that has the highest purity, in the sense that it has the most number of zero channels.

31. The color management module according to claim 24, wherein the checking module determines whether the spectrally-based ICS value is included in the bounding box of the discrete spectral gamut descriptor, and a determination that the spectrally-based ICS value is not included in the bounding box corresponds to a determination that the spectrally-based ICS value is not included in the discrete spectral gamut descriptor, and wherein in response to a determination that the spectrally-based ICS value is included in the bounding box, the checking module further determines whether the spectrally-based ICS value is included in a cell of the discrete spectral gamut descriptor, and a determination that the spectrally-based ICS value is not included in a cell of the discrete spectral gamut descriptor corresponds to a determination that the spectrally-based ICS value is not included in the discrete spectral gamut descriptor.

32. The color management module according to claim 31, wherein the checking module determines whether the spectrally-based ICS value is included in a cell of the discrete spectral gamut descriptor by calculating a cell index for the spectrally-based ICS value based on ICS coordinates of the ICS value, and searches for the calculated cell index in the list of sorted cell indices, wherein a search result indicating that the calculated index is included in the list of cell indices corresponds to a determination that the spectrally-based ICS value is included in a cell of the discrete spectral gamut descriptor.

33. The color management module according to claim 32, wherein a binary search is performed to search for the calculated cell index in the list of sorted cell indices.

34. The color management module according to claim 32, wherein in response to a determination that the spectrally-based ICS value is included in the discrete spectral gamut descriptor, an attribute associated with the calculated index is retrieved, and the spectrally-based ICS value is converted into a destination-side color using the retrieved attribute as an initial guess for the destination-side color.

35. The color management module according to claim 24, wherein the coordinates of the ICS are scaled such that one unit distance in the ICS corresponds to a Just Noticeable Difference (JND), and N is chosen such that the resolution of each cell is a specified multiple of the JND.

36. The color management module according to claim 24, wherein N is chosen such that N is less than an upper bound that is directly related to storage space occupied by the discrete spectral gamut descriptor on a computer-readable storage medium.

37. The color management module according to claim 24, wherein the coordinates of the ICS are scaled such that one unit distance in the ICS corresponds to a Just Noticeable Difference (JND), and wherein N is chosen such that the resolution of each cell is a specified multiple of the JND, and such that N is less than an upper bound that is directly related to storage space occupied by the discrete spectral gamut descriptor on a computer-readable storage medium.

38. The color management module according to claim 24, wherein the gamut mapping module comprises:

a continuous gamut boundary descriptor module constructed to perform a determining step in which it is determined whether the spectrally-based ICS value is included in a continuous spectral gamut boundary descriptor that represents the continuous spectral gamut boundary of the destination device; and

a projection module constructed to perform a projecting step, responsive to a determination that the spectrally-based ICS value is not included in the continuous spectral gamut boundary descriptor, in which the spectrally-based ICS color value is projected onto within the continuous spectral gamut of the destination device.

39. The color management module according to claim 24, wherein after performing spectral gamut mapping, it is determined whether the gamut-mapped spectrally-based ICS value is included in the discrete spectral gamut descriptor,

wherein in response to a determination that the gamut-mapped ICS value is included in the discrete spectral gamut descriptor, an attribute associated with a cell of the discrete spectral gamut descriptor that includes the gamut-mapped ICS value is retrieved, and the gamut-mapped ICS value is converted into a destination-side color using the retrieved attribute as an initial guess for the destination-side color;

and

wherein in response to a determination that the gamut-mapped ICS value is not included in the discrete spectral gamut descriptor, a cell in the discrete spectral gamut descriptor closest to the gamut-mapped ICS value is identified, an attribute associated with the identified cell is retrieved, and the gamut-mapped ICS value is converted into a destination-side color using the retrieved attribute as an initial guess for the destination-side color.

40. The color management module according to claim 23, wherein multi-spectral source devices include multi-spectral digital cameras, and wherein destination devices include multi-ink printers, reflective display devices, and electronic paper.

41. The color management module according to claim 23, further comprising:

a coarse sampling module constructed to perform a coarse sampling step in which a coarse sampling is performed to generate sample points that sparsely span the destination device dependent color space of the destination device;

a sample point reflectance conversion module constructed to perform a converting step in which each of the generated sample points is converted into spectral reflectance values in the spectral reflectance space;

a sample point ICS conversion module constructed to perform a converting step in which the spectral reflectance values are converted into spectrally-based ICS values in the spectrally-based ICS;

a bounding box calculation module constructed to perform a calculating step in which a maximum coordinate value and a minimum coordinate value in each dimension of the spectrally-based ICS are calculated to define the bounding box that includes the ICS sample points;

a subdividing module constructed to perform a subdividing step in which the bounding box is subdivided into the collection of discrete cells such that there are N intervals in each dimension;

a cell index generation module constructed to perform a generating step in which a list of cell indices is generated that represents the collection of discrete cells in the discrete spectral gamut descriptor by performing a finer sampling to generate sample points that densely span the destination device dependent color space of the destination device, in which each sample point generated from the finer sampling is immediately processed, without storing the sample points generated form the finer sampling.

42. The color management module according to claim 41, further comprising a processing module constructed to perform a processing step in which, after a new sample point is generated form the finer sampling, the new sample point is processed by performing the steps of:

converting the generated sample point into a spectral reflectance value in the spectral reflectance space;

converting the spectral reflectance value into a spectrally-based ICS value in the spectrally-based ICS;

determining whether the spectrally-based ICS value is included in the bounding box;

in response to a determination that the spectrally-based ICS value is included in the bounding box, generating a cell index for the ICS sample point based on the ICS coordinate of the sample point, and adding the generated cell index to the list of cell indices; and

associating an attribute with the generated cell index, wherein the attribute provides representative information about sample points included in the cell corresponding to the associated index.

43. The color management module according to claim 23, further comprising:

a gamut descriptor generation module constructed to perform a generating step in which the discrete spectral gamut descriptor is generated that represents the spectral gamut of the destination device as a collection of discrete cells of a subdivided bounding box that includes a set of sample points in the spectrally-based ICS that span the spectral gamut of the destination device, wherein each cell has an attribute that represents an initial guess for a destination-side color for ICS values included in the cell, and the attribute is used to convert ICS values included in the cell into destination-side colors;

a hulling module constructed to perform a hulling step in which a convex hull is generated by applying a hulling algorithm to the set of sample points in the discrete spectral gamut descriptor;

a discrete hull generation module constructed to perform a generating step in which a discrete convex hull is generated that includes the cells in the subdivided bounding box that have a non-empty intersection with the convex hull

wherein the determining step performed by the checking module determines whether a spectrally-based ICS value of the spectrally-based ICS representation is within a spectral gamut of an intended destination device, by determining whether the spectrally-based ICS value is included in the discrete convex hull and the discrete spectral gamut descriptor,

wherein in response to a determination that the spectrally-based ICS value is included in the discrete convex hull, the spectrally-based ICS value is converted into a destination-side color in a destination device dependent color space of the destination device, and

wherein in response to a determination that the spectrally-based ICS value is not included in the discrete convex hull, the spectrally-based ICS color value is spectrally gamut mapped onto the spectral gamut of the destination device, and the gamut-mapped spectrally-based ICS value is converted into a destination-side color in the destination device dependent color space of the destination device.

44. The color management module according to claim 43, wherein the determination as to whether the spectrally-based ICS value is included in the discrete convex hull is performed first before proceeding to a determination as to whether the spectrally-based ICS value is included in the discrete spectral gamut descriptor.

45. A color management apparatus comprising:

a computer-readable memory constructed to store computer-executable process steps; and

a processor constructed to execute the computer-executable process steps stored in the memory;

wherein the process steps stored in the memory cause the processor to convert a source-side color in a source device dependent color space into a counterpart destination-side color in a destination device dependent color space, and include computer-executable process steps to;

access a multi-spectral color image in the source device dependent color space generated using a multi-spectral source device;

convert the multi-spectral color image into a spectral reflectance representation in a spectral reflectance space;

convert the spectral reflectance representation into a spectrally-based Interim Connection Space (ICS) representation in a spectrally-based ICS;

determine whether a spectrally-based ICS value of the spectrally-based ICS representation is within a spectral gamut of an intended destination device, by determining whether the spectrally-based ICS value is included in a discrete spectral gamut descriptor that represents the spectral gamut of the destination device;

in response to a determination that the spectrally-based ICS value is included in the discrete spectral gamut descriptor, convert the spectrally-based ICS value into a destination-side color in a destination device dependent color space of the destination device; and

in response to a determination that the spectrally-based ICS value is not included in the discrete spectral gamut descriptor, spectrally gamut map the spectrally-based ICS color value onto the spectral gamut of the destination device, and convert the gamut-mapped spectrally-based ICS value into a destination-side color in the destination device dependent color space of the destination device,

wherein the discrete spectral gamut descriptor represents the spectral gamut of the destination device as a collection of discrete cells of a subdivided bounding box that includes a set of sample points in the spectrally-based ICS that span the spectral gamut of the destination device, and

wherein each cell has an attribute that represents an initial guess for a destination-side color for ICS values included in the cell, and the attribute is used to convert ICS values included in the cell into destination-side colors.

46. The color management apparatus according to claim 45, wherein the discrete spectral gamut descriptor is constructed by performing the steps of:

generating sample points that span the destination device dependent color space of the destination device;

converting each of the generated sample points into spectral reflectance values in the spectral reflectance space;

converting the spectral reflectance values into spectrally-based ICS values in the spectrally-based ICS;

calculating a maximum coordinate value and a minimum coordinate value in each dimension of the spectrally-based ICS to define the bounding box that includes the ICS sample points;

subdividing the bounding box into the collection of discrete cells such that there are N intervals in each dimension;

generating a list of cell indices that represents the collection of discrete cells in the discrete spectral gamut descriptor, wherein the list is generated by generating a cell index for each cell including one or more sample points based on the ICS coordinates of the sample points, and adding the generated cell indices to the list of cell indices;

sorting the list of cell indices; and

associating an attribute with each index in the list of cell indices, wherein each attribute provides representative information about sample points included in the cell corresponding to the associated index.

47. The color management apparatus according to claim 46, wherein in the sample point generating step, the sample points are filtered based on specified constraints.

48. The color management apparatus according to claim 46, wherein each attribute is a device value for a representative sample point lying inside the corresponding cell.

49. The color management apparatus according to claim 48, wherein the representative sample point is a sample point that is closest to the center of the cell.

50. The color management apparatus according to claim 48, wherein the representative sample point is a sample point that has a lowest value in the black channel.

51. The color management apparatus according to claim 48, wherein the representative sample point is a sample point that has a highest value in the black channel.

52. The color management apparatus according to claim 48, wherein the representative sample point is a sample point that has the highest purity, in the sense that it has the most number of zero channels.

53. The color management apparatus according to claim 46, wherein in the determining step it is determined whether the spectrally-based ICS value is included in the bounding box of the discrete spectral gamut descriptor, and a determination that the spectrally-based ICS value is not included in the bounding box corresponds to a determination that the spectrally-based ICS value is not included in the discrete spectral gamut descriptor, and wherein in response to a determination that the spectrally-based ICS value is included in the bounding box, it is further determined whether the spectrally-based ICS value is included in a cell of the discrete spectral gamut descriptor, and a determination that the spectrally-based ICS value is not included in a cell of the discrete spectral gamut descriptor corresponds to a determination that the spectrally-based ICS value is not included in the discrete spectral gamut descriptor.

54. The color management apparatus according to claim 53, wherein in the determining step, it is determined whether the spectrally-based ICS value is included in a cell of the discrete spectral gamut descriptor by calculating a cell index for the spectrally-based ICS value based on ICS coordinates of the ICS value, and searching for the calculated cell index in the list of sorted cell indices, wherein a search result indicating that the calculated index is included in the list of cell indices corresponds to a determination that the spectrally-based ICS value is included in a cell of the discrete spectral gamut descriptor.

55. The color management apparatus according to claim 54, wherein a binary search is performed to search for the calculated cell index in the list of sorted cell indices.

56. The color management apparatus according to claim 54, wherein in response to a determination that the spectrally-based ICS value is included in the discrete spectral gamut descriptor, an attribute associated with the calculated index is retrieved, and the spectrally-based ICS value is converted into a destination-side color using the retrieved attribute as an initial guess for the destination-side color.

57. The color management apparatus according to claim 46, wherein the coordinates of the ICS are scaled such that one unit distance in the ICS corresponds to a Just Noticeable Difference (JND), and N is chosen such that the resolution of each cell is a specified multiple of the JND.

58. The color management apparatus according to claim 46, wherein N is chosen such that N is less than an upper bound that is directly related to storage space occupied by the discrete spectral gamut descriptor on a computer-readable storage medium.

59. The color management apparatus according to claim 46, wherein the coordinates of the ICS are scaled such that one unit distance in the ICS corresponds to a Just Noticeable Difference (JND), and wherein N is chosen such that the resolution of each cell is a specified multiple of the JND, and such that N is less than an upper bound that is directly related to storage space occupied by the discrete spectral gamut descriptor on a computer-readable storage medium.

60. The color management apparatus according to claim 46, wherein spectrally gamut mapping the spectrally-based ICS color value onto within the spectral gamut of the destination device comprises the steps of:

determining whether the spectrally-based ICS value is included in a continuous spectral gamut boundary descriptor that represents the continuous spectral gamut boundary of the destination device; and

in response to a determination that the spectrally-based ICS value is not included in the continuous spectral gamut boundary descriptor, projecting the spectrally-based ICS color value onto within the continuous spectral gamut of the destination device.

61. The color management apparatus according to claim 46, wherein after performing spectral gamut mapping, it is determined whether the gamut-mapped spectrally-based ICS value is included in the discrete spectral gamut descriptor,

wherein in response to a determination that the gamut-mapped ICS value is included in the discrete spectral gamut descriptor, an attribute associated with a cell of the discrete spectral gamut descriptor that includes the gamut-mapped ICS value is retrieved, and the gamut-mapped ICS value is converted into a destination-side color using the retrieved attribute as an initial guess for the destination-side color;

and

wherein in response to a determination that the gamut-mapped ICS value is not included in the discrete spectral gamut descriptor, a cell in the discrete spectral gamut descriptor closest to the gamut-mapped ICS value is identified, an attribute associated with the identified cell is retrieved, and the gamut-mapped ICS value is converted into a destination-side color using the retrieved attribute as an initial guess for the destination-side color.

62. The color management apparatus according to claim 45, wherein multi-spectral source devices include multi-spectral digital cameras, and wherein destination devices include multi-ink printers, reflective display devices, and electronic paper.

63. The color management apparatus according to claim 45, wherein the discrete spectral gamut descriptor is constructed by performing the steps of:

performing a coarse sampling to generate sample points that sparsely span the destination device dependent color space of the destination device;

converting each of the generated sample points into spectral reflectance values in the spectral reflectance space;

converting the spectral reflectance values into spectrally-based ICS values in the spectrally-based ICS;

calculating a maximum coordinate value and a minimum coordinate value in each dimension of the spectrally-based ICS to define the bounding box that includes the ICS sample points;

subdividing the bounding box into the collection of discrete cells such that there are N intervals in each dimension;

generating a list of cell indices that represents the collection of discrete cells in the discrete spectral gamut descriptor by performing a finer sampling to generate sample points that densely span the destination device dependent color space of the destination device, and immediately processing each sample point generated from the finer sampling, without storing the sample points generated form the finer sampling.

64. The color management apparatus according to claim 63, wherein after a new sample point is generated form the finer sampling, the new sample point is processed by performing the steps of:

converting the generated sample point into a spectral reflectance value in the spectral reflectance space;

converting the spectral reflectance value into a spectrally-based ICS value in the spectrally-based ICS;

determining whether the spectrally-based ICS value is included in the bounding box;

in response to a determination that the spectrally-based ICS value is included in the bounding box, generating a cell index for the ICS sample point based on the ICS coordinate of the sample point, and adding the generated cell index to the list of cell indices; and

associating an attribute with the generated cell index, wherein the attribute provides representative information about sample points included in the cell corresponding to the associated index.

65. The color management apparatus according to claim 45, wherein the process steps include computer-executable process steps to:

generate the discrete spectral gamut descriptor that represents the spectral gamut of the destination device as a collection of discrete cells of a subdivided bounding box that includes a set of sample points in the spectrally-based ICS that span the spectral gamut of the destination device, wherein each cell has an attribute that represents an initial guess for a destination-side color for ICS values included in the cell, and the attribute is used to convert ICS values included in the cell into destination-side colors;

generate a convex hull by applying a hulling algorithm to the set of sample points in the discrete spectral gamut descriptor;

generate a discrete convex hull that includes the cells in the subdivided bounding box that have a non-empty intersection with the convex hull,

wherein the process step to determine whether a spectrally-based ICS value of the spectrally-based ICS representation is within a spectral gamut of an intended destination device determines whether the spectrally-based ICS value is included in the discrete convex hull and the discrete spectral gamut descriptor,

wherein in response to a determination that the spectrally-based ICS value is included in the discrete convex hull, the spectrally-based ICS value is converted into a destination-side color in a destination device dependent color space of the destination device, and

wherein in response to a determination that the spectrally-based ICS value is not included in the discrete convex hull, the spectrally-based ICS color value is spectrally gamut mapped onto the spectral gamut of the destination device, and the gamut-mapped spectrally-based ICS value is converted into a destination-side color in the destination device dependent color space of the destination device.

66. The color management apparatus according to claim 65, wherein the determination as to whether the spectrally-based ICS value is included in the discrete convex hull is performed first before proceeding to a determination as to whether the spectrally-based ICS value is included in the discrete spectral gamut descriptor.

67. A computer-readable memory medium on which is stored computer-executable process steps for causing a computer to convert a source-side color in a source device dependent color space into a counterpart destination-side color in a destination device dependent color space, said process steps comprising:

accessing a multi-spectral color image in the source device dependent color space generated using a multi-spectral source device;

converting the multi-spectral color image into a spectral reflectance representation in a spectral reflectance space;

converting the spectral reflectance representation into a spectrally-based Interim Connection Space (ICS) representation in a spectrally-based ICS;

determining whether a spectrally-based ICS value of the spectrally-based ICS representation is within a spectral gamut of an intended destination device, by determining whether the spectrally-based ICS value is included in a discrete spectral gamut descriptor that represents the spectral gamut of the destination device;

in response to a determination that the spectrally-based ICS value is included in the discrete spectral gamut descriptor, converting the spectrally-based ICS value into a destination-side color in a destination device dependent color space of the destination device; and

in response to a determination that the spectrally-based ICS value is not included in the discrete spectral gamut descriptor, spectrally gamut mapping the spectrally-based ICS color value onto the spectral gamut of the destination device, and converting the gamut-mapped spectrally-based ICS value into a destination-side color in the destination device dependent color space of the destination device,

wherein the discrete spectral gamut descriptor represents the spectral gamut of the destination device as a collection of discrete cells of a subdivided bounding box that includes a set of sample points in the spectrally-based ICS that span the spectral gamut of the destination device, and

wherein each cell has an attribute that represents an initial guess for a destination-side color for ICS values included in the cell, and the attribute is used to convert ICS values included in the cell into destination-side colors.

68. The computer-readable memory medium according to claim 67, wherein the discrete spectral gamut descriptor is constructed by performing the steps of:

generating sample points that span the destination device dependent color space of the destination device;

converting each of the generated sample points into spectral reflectance values in the spectral reflectance space;

converting the spectral reflectance values into spectrally-based ICS values in the spectrally-based ICS;

calculating a maximum coordinate value and a minimum coordinate value in each dimension of the spectrally-based ICS to define the bounding box that includes the ICS sample points;

subdividing the bounding box into the collection of discrete cells such that there are N intervals in each dimension;

generating a list of cell indices that represents the collection of discrete cells in the discrete spectral gamut descriptor, wherein the list is generated by generating a cell index for each cell including one or more sample points based on the ICS coordinates of the sample points, and adding the generated cell indices to the list of cell indices;

sorting the list of cell indices; and

associating an attribute with each index in the list of cell indices, wherein each attribute provides information about sample points included in the cell corresponding to the associated index.

69. The computer-readable memory medium according to claim 68, wherein in the sample point generating step, the sample points are filtered based on specified constraints.

70. The computer-readable memory medium according to claim 68, wherein each attribute is a device value for a representative sample point lying inside the corresponding cell.

71. The computer-readable memory medium according to claim 70, wherein the representative sample point is a sample point that is closest to the center of the cell.

72. The computer-readable memory medium according to claim 70, wherein the representative sample point is a sample point that has a lowest value in the black channel.

73. The computer-readable memory medium according to claim 70, wherein the representative sample point is a sample point that has a highest value in the black channel.

74. The computer-readable memory medium according to claim 70, wherein the representative sample point is a sample point that has the highest purity, in the sense that it has the most number of zero channels.

75. The computer-readable memory medium according to claim 68, wherein in the determining step it is determined whether the spectrally-based ICS value is included in the bounding box of the discrete spectral gamut descriptor, and a determination that the spectrally-based ICS value is not included in the bounding box corresponds to a determination that the spectrally-based ICS value is not included in the discrete spectral gamut descriptor, and wherein in response to a determination that the spectrally-based ICS value is included in the bounding box, it is further determined whether the spectrally-based ICS value is included in a cell of the discrete spectral gamut descriptor, and a determination that the spectrally-based ICS value is not included in a cell of the discrete spectral gamut descriptor corresponds to a determination that the spectrally-based ICS value is not included in the discrete spectral gamut descriptor.

76. The computer-readable memory medium according to claim 75, wherein in the determining step, it is determined whether the spectrally-based ICS value is included in a cell of the discrete spectral gamut descriptor by calculating a cell index for the spectrally-based ICS value based on ICS coordinates of the ICS value, and searching for the calculated cell index in the list of sorted cell indices, wherein a search result indicating that the calculated index is included in the list of cell indices corresponds to a determination that the spectrally-based ICS value is included in a cell of the discrete spectral gamut descriptor.

77. The computer-readable memory medium according to claim 76, wherein a binary search is performed to search for the calculated cell index in the list of sorted cell indices.

78. The computer-readable memory medium according to claim 76, wherein in response to a determination that the spectrally-based ICS value is included in the discrete spectral gamut descriptor, an attribute associated with the calculated index is retrieved, and the spectrally-based ICS value is converted into a destination-side color using the retrieved attribute as an initial guess for the destination-side color.

79. The computer-readable memory medium according to claim 68, wherein the coordinates of the ICS are scaled such that one unit distance in the ICS corresponds to a Just Noticeable Difference (JND), and N is chosen such that the resolution of each cell is a specified multiple of the JND.

80. The computer-readable memory medium according to claim 68, wherein N is chosen such that N is less than an upper bound that is directly related to storage space occupied by the discrete spectral gamut descriptor on a computer-readable storage medium.

81. The computer-readable memory medium according to claim 68, wherein the coordinates of the ICS are scaled such that one unit distance in the ICS corresponds to a Just Noticeable Difference (JND), and wherein N is chosen such that the resolution of each cell is a specified multiple of the JND, and such that N is less than an upper bound that is directly related to storage space occupied by the discrete spectral gamut descriptor on a computer-readable storage medium.

82. The computer-readable memory medium according to claim 68, wherein spectrally gamut mapping the spectrally-based ICS color value onto within the spectral gamut of the destination device comprises the steps of:

determining whether the spectrally-based ICS value is included in a continuous spectral gamut boundary descriptor that represents the continuous spectral gamut boundary of the destination device; and

in response to a determination that the spectrally-based ICS value is not included in the continuous spectral gamut boundary descriptor, projecting the spectrally-based ICS color value onto within the continuous spectral gamut of the destination device.

83. The computer-readable memory medium according to claim 68, wherein after performing spectral gamut mapping, it is determined whether the gamut-mapped spectrally-based ICS value is included in the discrete spectral gamut descriptor,

wherein in response to a determination that the gamut-mapped ICS value is included in the discrete spectral gamut descriptor, an attribute associated with a cell of the discrete spectral gamut descriptor that includes the gamut-mapped ICS value is retrieved, and the gamut-mapped ICS value is converted into a destination-side color using the retrieved attribute as an initial guess for the destination-side color;

and

wherein in response to a determination that the gamut-mapped ICS value is not included in the discrete spectral gamut descriptor, a cell in the discrete spectral gamut descriptor closest to the gamut-mapped ICS value is identified, an attribute associated with the identified cell is retrieved, and the gamut-mapped ICS value is converted into a destination-side color using the retrieved attribute as an initial guess for the destination-side color.

84. The computer-readable memory medium according to claim 67, wherein multi-spectral source devices include multi-spectral digital cameras, and wherein destination devices include multi-ink printers, reflective display devices, and electronic paper.

85. The computer-readable memory medium according to claim 67, wherein the discrete spectral gamut descriptor is constructed by performing the steps of:

performing a coarse sampling to generate sample points that sparsely span the destination device dependent color space of the destination device;

converting each of the generated sample points into spectral reflectance values in the spectral reflectance space;

converting the spectral reflectance values into spectrally-based ICS values in the spectrally-based ICS;

calculating a maximum coordinate value and a minimum coordinate value in each dimension of the spectrally-based ICS to define the bounding box that includes the ICS sample points;

subdividing the bounding box into the collection of discrete cells such that there are N intervals in each dimension;

generating a list of cell indices that represents the collection of discrete cells in the discrete spectral gamut descriptor by performing a finer sampling to generate sample points that densely span the destination device dependent color space of the destination device, and immediately processing each sample point generated from the finer sampling, without storing the sample points generated form the finer sampling.

86. The computer-readable memory medium according to claim 85, wherein after a new sample point is generated form the finer sampling, the new sample point is processed by performing the steps of:

converting the generated sample point into a spectral reflectance value in the spectral reflectance space;

converting the spectral reflectance value into a spectrally-based ICS value in the spectrally-based ICS;

determining whether the spectrally-based ICS value is included in the bounding box;

in response to a determination that the spectrally-based ICS value is included in the bounding box, generating a cell index for the ICS sample point based on the ICS coordinate of the sample point, and adding the generated cell index to the list of cell indices; and

associating an attribute with the generated cell index, wherein the attribute provides representative information about sample points included in the cell corresponding to the associated index.

87. The computer-readable memory medium according to claim 67, wherein the process steps further comprise:

generating the discrete spectral gamut descriptor that represents the spectral gamut of the destination device as a collection of discrete cells of a subdivided bounding box that includes a set of sample points in the spectrally-based ICS that span the spectral gamut of the destination device, wherein each cell has an attribute that represents an initial guess for a destination-side color for ICS values included in the cell, and the attribute is used to convert ICS values included in the cell into destination-side colors;

generating a convex hull by applying a hulling algorithm to the set of sample points in the discrete spectral gamut descriptor;

generating a discrete convex hull that includes the cells in the subdivided bounding box that have a non-empty intersection with the convex hull,

wherein the step of determining whether a spectrally-based ICS value of the spectrally-based ICS representation is within a spectral gamut of an intended destination device determines whether the spectrally-based ICS value is included in the discrete convex hull and the discrete spectral gamut descriptor,

wherein in response to a determination that the spectrally-based ICS value is included in the discrete convex hull, the spectrally-based ICS value is converted into a destination-side color in a destination device dependent color space of the destination device, and

wherein in response to a determination that the spectrally-based ICS value is not included in the discrete convex hull, the spectrally-based ICS color value is spectrally gamut mapped onto the spectral gamut of the destination device, and the gamut-mapped spectrally-based ICS value is converted into a destination-side color in the destination device dependent color space of the destination device.

88. The computer-readable memory medium according to claim 87, wherein the determination as to whether the spectrally-based ICS value is included in the discrete convex hull is performed first before proceeding to a determination as to whether the spectrally-based ICS value is included in the discrete spectral gamut descriptor.