The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 02, 1999
Filed:
Apr. 17, 1996
Mitch Prater, Petaluma, CA (US);
Pixar, Richmond, CA (US);
Abstract
A method for manipulating color values in a computer graphics system. Colors are mapped into a color space referred to as 'HSY space,' which provides independent control over the orthogonal parameters of hue, saturation and luminance. The intuitive color description qualities of hue and saturation are retained in combination with the luminance parameter, which is specifically tuned to the response of the human eye and a specific display system. The present invention thus provides ease of use for the graphic artist without the hue and saturation dependent luminance response of prior art methods. Color image data in HSY format is manipulated by a color graphics editing or rendering process by altering hue, saturation and luminance individually. The graphic artist is thus able to select the appropriate color by using tints, shades and tones. In one embodiment, HSY color data is converted into a second color data format, such as RGB, for display or storage purposes to meet the physical requirements of display devices. A reverse transformation is used to convert scanned image data in RGB format into HSY data for manipulation in HSY space by the editing process. In addition, two hue preserving transformations are described which map the unit HSY color space into the unit RGB color space.