MODELING THE IMAGE QUALITY OF COLOR NEGATIVE FILMS WITH EXTENDED DYE CLOUD DIFFUSION

The link between dye cloud diffusion in a colour negative film and pre dicted final print sharpness and graininess has been modelled. It is s hown that for a given reduction in graininess with extended dye diffus ion, the predicted loss in sharpness of an imaging layer decreases as the magnitude of the underlying developed silver sharpness decreases. Sharpness estimations are made from both the AMT acutance and Perceive d Information Capacity (PIC) perceptual metrics. The Graininess Index metric is employed for the determination of print graininess. The like ly magnitude of the sharpness-graininess trade-off with extended dye c loud diffusion is quantified for a commercial colour negative multilay er film.