Optimized light source spectral power distribution for RGB camera based spectral reflectance recovery

The accuracy of recovered spectra from camera responses mainly depends on the spectral estimation algorithm used, the camera and filters selected, and the light source used to illuminate the object. We present and compare different light source spectrum optimization methods together with different spectral estimation algorithms applied to reflectance recovery. These optimization methods include the Monte Carlo (MC) method, particle swarm optimization (PSO) and multi-population genetic algorithm (MPGA). Optimized SPDs are compared with D65, D50 A and three LED light sources in simulation and reality. Results obtained show us that MPGA has superior performance, and optimized light source spectra along with better spectral estimation algorithm can provide a more accurate spectral reflectance estimation of an object surface. Meanwhile, it is found that camera spectral sensitivities weighted by optimized SPDs tend to be mutually orthogonal.