System design for accurately estimating the spectral reflectance of art paintings

Accurately estimating the spectral reflectance of art paintings from low-di mensional multichannel images requires that both image-acquisition hardware with appropriate spectral characteristics and appropriate estimation softw are be applied to the captured multichannel image. In this study, a system that incorporates both factors is designed and developed on the basis of th e minimum-mean-square error criterion. The accuracy of spectral estimation by use of this system is evaluated, and the system's high performance is de monstrated. (C) 2000 Optical Society of America OCIS codes: 100.2000, 100.3 010, 120.2440, 220.4830, 330.1690.