The Colors Seen behind Transparent Filters

Abstract

How do the colors and lightnesses of surfaces seen to lie behind a transparent filter depend on the chromatic properties of the filter? A convergence model developed in prior work (D'Zmura et al, 1997 Perception 26 471-492; Chen and D'Zmura, 1998 Perception 27 595-608) suggests that the visual system interprets a filter's transformation of color in terms of a convergence in color space. Such a convergence is described by a color shift and a change in contrast. We tested the model using an asymmetric matching task. Observers adjusted, in computer graphic simulation, the color of a surface seen behind a transparent filter in order to match the color of a surface seen in plain view. The convergence model fits the color-matching results nearly as well as a more general affine-transformation model, even though the latter has many more parameters. Other models, including von Kries scaling, did not perform as well. These results suggest that the color constancy revealed in this task is described best by a model that takes into account both color shifts and changes in contrast.