About quantifying small color differences in digital images

We discuss aspects of the use and possibilities provided by three-color colorimeters or digital cameras in problems of detecting small color differences by computer vision methods. The spectral dependence of the total color differences between pairs of visually indiscernible mono-chromatic stimuli is experimentally revealed. An experimental setup based on the UM-2 monochromator is created for producing a digital atlas of monochromatic stimuli at 1-nm increments. The atlas serves to test the color gamut and color differentiation of cameras. It is experimentally shown that in the visible spectral range a color difference of 3 units is detected by pairs of stimuli that are unevenly distributed across the spectrum and differ in wavelengths from 1 to 6 nm. The capabilities of computer vision are tested on the examples of identifying additional texts during a technical and forensic examination of documents. A new algorithm is developed for finding and quantitatively characterizing color difference of inserts based on a digital image of the inscription. In the algorithm, the objective analysis of the image is divided into a block of color segmentation and that of color tone and color difference assessment. With such an approach, the color segmentation block performs preprocessing functions, making a border map for the classes with different colors for the subsequent calculations. The Otsu method of optimal global threshold transformation is for the first time applied to a problem of image segmentation by color saturation. The trial of the algorithm confirms its efficiency in the solution of expert tasks.