Optimal color filters in the presence of noise.

The effect of noise on the number of effective channels (color filters) used to record a color image is investigated. Transmittances of color filters are calculated that minimize the mean square error that occurs when estimating, from the recorded data, the colors in the image under a collection of viewing illuminants. Since the results indicate that a significant improvement in color correction accuracy is achieved by using four channels, there is good reason to consider using four-tuples for representation of colorimetric information.