Three-dimensional histogram visualization in different color spaces and applications

A visualization procedure for the 3-D histogram of color images is presented. The procedure assumes that the histogram is available as a table that associates to a pixel color the number of its appearances in the image. The procedure runs for the RGB, YMC, HSV, HSL, L*a*b*, and L*u*v* color spaces and it is easily extendable to other color spaces if the analytical form of color transformations is available. Each histogram value is represented in the color space as a colored ball, in a position corresponding to the place of the color in the space. A simple drawing procedure is used instead of more complicated 3-D rendering techniques. The 3-D histogram visualization offers a clear and intuitive representation of the color distribution of an image. The procedure is applied to derive a clusterization technique for color classification and visualize its resuIts, to display comparatively the gamut of different color devices, and to detect the misalignment of the Rc3B planes of a color image. Diagrams illustrating the visualization procedure are presented for each application.