We present algorithms for predicting the usefulness and naturalness of color reproductions of natural scenes. The algorithms are based on a computational model of the stages that lead to an observer's impression of the usefulness and naturalness of an image. These stages are (1)
the perception, or internal quantification, of color; (2) the construction of a memory standard for an object's color based on its color as observed in the past; and (3) matching of observed object colors with memory standards. In the first of the above stages, the internal quantification
of color, the concept of (partially) flexible metrics plays a central role. To test the usefulness algorithm, it was used to predict the discrimination of detail in black and white images of which the contrast was manipulated by applying an s-shaped transform on CIE 1976 lightness
T. J. W. M. Janssen, F. J. J. Blommaert, "Predicting the Usefulness and Naturalness of Color Reproductions" in Journal of Imaging Science and Technology, 2000, pp 93 - 104, https://doi.org/10.2352/J.ImagingSci.Technol.2000.44.2.art00001