Difference scaling of gloss: Nonlinearity, binocularity, and constancy

Abstract

Gloss is an attribute of visual appearance that originates from the geometrical distribution of the light reflected by the surface. We used the maximum likelihood difference scaling (MLDS) procedure (L.T. Maloney & J. N. Yang, 2003) to estimate gloss scales over an extended range. Observers' judgments were obtained for a series of 10 black, coated samples for two directions of illumination, in binocular and monocular vision. The results showed a nonlinear relation between gloss percept and instrumental specular gloss values. Sensitivity is higher at extreme scale values than in the middle. In binocular vision, the sensitivity to gloss is higher than in monocular vision exclusively for high gloss levels. Lastly, we found that gloss difference scales, when expressed in terms of the samples rather than the photometric characteristics, vary little with the direction of illumination. Gloss scaling thus seems to be independent of the geometrical variations of the luminous flux at the surface of the sample. By analogy with the term "color constancy," we call this property "gloss constancy."

Recommended standards for newborn ICU design

“…Flooring material with a reflectance of no greater than 40% 9 and a gloss value of no greater than 30 gloss units shall be used, 16,17 to minimize the possibility that glare reflected from a bright procedure or work-area light will impinge on the eyes of infants or caregivers.…”

Consumer’s perception of high gloss furniture: instrumental gloss measurement versus visual gloss evaluation

“…This was not of interest for this study because for today's furniture industry and marketing mainly high gloss surfaces are in focus. As demonstrated by Obein et al (2004), humans are more sensitive in high and matte glossy ranges. From these results it could be possible that the gloss impression does provide good results within high gloss surfaces but not as good correspondence in middle gloss areas.…”

“…The limitations of existing methods were noticed in different studies. A variety of studies is dealing with gloss perception and all arrived at the same conclusion: There is no linear relationship between visual human perception and measured instrumental data (Billmeyer and O'Donnell 1987;Gruber et al 2012;Harrison 1949;Harrison and Poulter 1951;Leloup et al 2011;Obein et al 2004). Especially Leloup et al (2014) provide a good overview about the history of gloss measurement, existing gloss measurement techniques and their limitations.…”

Fundamentals of Optics and Radiometry for Color Reproduction

“…The study of gloss perception is more recent than the study of color [54] and yet there is no normalized gloss perception space available today. The main approach consists at correlating gloss perception, surface topology and BRDF measurements [55], but in the case of colored objects, it is still difficult to assess color and gloss attributes from optical measurement [28].…”