Experiments in sensor sharpening for color constancy

Sensor sharpening has been proposed as a method for improving color constancy algorithms but it has not been tested in the context of real color constancy algorithms. In this paper we test sensor sharpening as a method for improving color constancy algorithms in the case of three different cameras, the human cone sensitivity estimates, and the XYZ response curves. We find that when the sensors are already relatively sharp, sensor sharpening does not offer much improvement and can have a detrimental effect However, when the sensors are less sharp, sharpening can have a substantive positive effect. The degree of improvement is heavily dependent on the particular color constancy algorithm. Thus we conclude that using sensor sharpening for improving color constancy can offer a significant benefit, but its use needs to be evaluated with respect to both the sensors and the algorithm.