ABSTRACT
Surface color is an important characteristic of an object that can be used for its identification. When the illumination environment changes, however, the spectral properties of the light reflected by an object to a sensing device also change. Color constancy is the ability to recover surface descriptors from color images that do not change as the illumination changes. The human visual system is approximately color constant over a range of surfaces and illumination condi tions. Color constancy is also highly desirable for machine vision systems that must operate in environments where illumination cannot be con trolled.
