Spectral vision system for measuring color images

We present a spectral vision system that can be used to measure a color spectrum and two-dimensional spectral images. First, a low-dimensional color filter set was designed by an unsupervised neural network. Then a compact optical setup for the spectral synthesizer was constructed to synthesize the light that corresponds to the spectral characteristics of the color filter. In the optical setup a liquid-crystal spatial light modulator was used to implement color filters. A sample was illuminated by the synthesized lights, and the intensity images that correspond to the inner products between the color filter and the sample were detected by a CCD camera. From the detected inner products the sample's color spectra were reconstructed by use of a pseudoinverse matrix. Experimental results of measuring a single color spectrum and spectral images are presented. (C) 1999 Optical Society of America [S01403232(99)01910-9].