Machine vision based on the concept of contrast sensitivity of the human eye

The model of contrast sensitivity function (CSF) of machine vision system, based on the CSF of the human visual system is proposed. By analogy with the human eye, we employ the concept of ganglion cell receptive field to the artificial light-sensitive elements. By further following this concept, we introduced quantative metrics of local and global contrast of digital image. We suggested that the contrast sensitivity threshold forms an iso-line in the parameter space contrast -spatial frequency. The model, implemented in a computer vision system, has been compared to the results of contrast sensitivity research, conducted directly with the human visual system, and demonstrated a good match.