TABLE OF CONTENTS Color images are formed by optical imaging systems from physical scenes that are composed of three-dimensional matter interacting with light. Light radiated from light sources is reflected, refracted, scattered, or diffracted by matter. As a result of all these light matter interactions, light is redistributed spatially and temporally to create the physical scenes that we see and take pictures of. The study of color imaging science, thus, should begin with the light-field formation process of the physical scenes. This is what we mean by scene physics. The necessity for studying such a subject arises not simply to generate realistic color images by computer graphics. It is also driven by our need to understand and model the scene physics to develop computational algorithms that can adjust the color balance and tone scale of color images automatically so that optimal reproduction and display can be achieved.
