Influence of Color Difference Formulas on Image Dominant Colors Extraction

With the purpose of extracting dominant colors exactly and efficiently, the most commonly used color difference formulas in CIELAB color space are investigated in this paper. Firstly, the theories of these color difference formulas are studied. Then, experiments are operated to compare the performance of these color difference formulas. Theoretical analysis and experimental results show that CIE94 is more precise and efficient at extracting image dominant colors. However, the choice of color difference formula is closely related to the special condition. Different color difference formula should be compared and selected particularly to fulfill the various applications to achieve different image displays.