Scaling and Color in Natural Images

Dan Ruderman

Scale invariance is the most universal property found in natural images. In this talk I will begin by summarizing our evidence for scaling as evidenced by the power spectrum. I will then present a more strict definition in terms of higher-order statistics and show that they too scale, giving a deeper and much richer meaning to natural image scaling. In the second part I present our recent data on predicted retinal photoreceptor response statistics to natural images. We find that once an appropriate metric space for cone responses is chosen that principal components analysis provides more than just the second-order decorrelation it guarantees. This "optimal" linear transformation appears similar to the blue-yellow and red-green opponent processes found both psychophysically and physiologically. Finally, the consequences of scale invariance to spatio-chromatic decorrelation will be illuminated.
Back to the Natural Scenes Meeting Agenda.