ISO/TS 19264-1:2017

TECHNICAL ISO/TS
SPECIFICATION 19264-1
First edition
2017-04
Corrected version
2018-05
Photography — Archiving systems —
Image quality analysis —
Part 1:
Reflective originals
Photographie — Systèmes d'archivage — Analyse de la qualité
d'image —
Partie 1: Documents réfléchissants
Reference number
ISO/TS 19264-1:2017(E)
©
ISO 2017

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ISO/TS 19264-1:2017(E)

COPYRIGHT PROTECTED DOCUMENT
© ISO 2017
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, or required in the context of its implementation, no part of this publication may
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Published in Switzerland
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ISO/TS 19264-1:2017(E)

Contents Page
Foreword .iv
Introduction .v
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms and definitions . 1
4 System setup and calibration .10
4.1 General .10
4.2 System configuration .10
4.3 Camera/scanner settings .10
4.4 Exposure .10
4.5 White balancing .11
4.6 ICC Profiling .11
4.7 Focusing .11
4.8 Colour encoding .11
4.9 Reproduction scale .12
5 Imaging system quality analysis procedure .12
6 Imaging systems quality characteristics and metrics .13
6.1 General .13
6.2 Tones and noise .13
6.3 Colour .16
6.4 Details .18
6.5 Geometry .20
7 Reporting results .21
7.1 General .21
7.2 Example report for tone reproduction results .22
7.3 Gain modulation .23
7.4 Dynamic range.24
7.5 Noise .24
7.6 Banding .26
7.7 Defect pixels .27
7.8 White balance.27
7.9 Colour reproduction .28
7.10 Colour mis-registration .29
7.11 Sampling rate.29
7.12 Resolution .29
7.13 MTF 50/MTF 10 .29
7.14 Sharpening .29
7.15 Acutance .29
7.16 Illuminance non-uniformity .29
7.17 Chrominance non-uniformity .29
7.18 Distortion .29
7.19 Reproduction scale .29
Annex A (normative) Test chart requirements .30
Annex B (normative) Guidelines for imaging performance aims and tolerances .32
Annex C (informative) Example of multi-pattern chart: Universal Test Target (UTT) .34
Bibliography .55
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ISO/TS 19264-1:2017(E)

Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards
bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out
through ISO technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical
committee has been established has the right to be represented on that committee. International
organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work.
ISO collaborates closely with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of
electrotechnical standardization.
The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are
described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular the different approval criteria needed for the
different types of ISO documents should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the
editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2. www .iso .org/directives
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of
patent rights. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights. Details of
any patent rights identified during the development of the document will be in the Introduction and/or
on the ISO list of patent declarations received. www .iso .org/patents
Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not
constitute an endorsement.
For an explanation on the meaning of ISO specific terms and expressions related to conformity
assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to the World Trade Organization (WTO)
principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), see the following URL: http: //www .iso
.org/iso/foreword .html
The committee responsible for this document is ISO/TC 42, Photography.
This corrected version of ISO/TS 19264-1:2017 incorporates the following correction:
— In 6.3, the “+” sign between the two rootsquare elements of the formula was corrected back to a
“−“ sign.
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ISO/TS 19264-1:2017(E)

Introduction
Electronic imaging systems, such as scanners and cameras, can be used for digitizing physical records,
e.g. documents, pictures, maps. The resulting digital images can be more or less accurate in terms of how
well they reproduce the original record’s tones, colours, details, etc. These and other characteristics of
a digital image can be assessed by imaging systems quality analysis. In general, the achievable accuracy
of digital reproductions depends on the nature of the original record and the digitization, especially the
performance of the imaging system and the applied system settings.
In some organizations, e.g. within the archiving and cultural heritage field, where considerable
resources are put into digitization projects, it is key to ensure that the required imaging systems
quality is met and that it is consistent. To this end, imaging systems quality analysis can assist those
developing or acquiring imaging systems with the assessment and verification of system performance,
such as the specified resolution and dynamic range of a scanner, and the comparative performance of
different imaging systems. Imaging systems quality analysis is also used for setting up and calibrating
imaging systems as well as for enhancing their performance. Finally, imaging systems quality analysis
is used for assessing accuracy and controlling imaging consistency over time. Note, that while the
need to ensure imaging systems quality is generic, the required level of imaging systems quality and
accuracy is use-case specific. For example, when digitizing watercolours it is usually essential to reach
a high degree of accuracy in the capture of the colour information, while this is not normally equally
critical when digitizing newspapers. Also, some image processing programs, such as Optical Character
Recognition (OCR), are more accurate if the contrast is enhanced during imaging.
In practice, imaging systems quality is analysed by digitizing a physical reference target (test chart)
with known (measured) values and comparing these reference values to the corresponding captured
values represented in the digital image file (see Figure 1).
The use of a test chart ensures that the imaging systems quality characteristics can be determined
objectively. However, to be usable the quality of the target needs to exceed the performance of the
imaging system. For example, to determine the resolution of an imaging system, the target needs to
have a technical pattern with more details than the system is capable of resolving. Imaging systems
quality analysis reports how accurately the imaging system reproduces the reference target. Therefore,
if the original record differs significantly from the target, e.g. with respect to tone, tonal range, colours,
details, and light reflectance/absorbance, this may, in spite of a well performing system, compromise
the accuracy of the reproduced image. See also References [25] and [26]. Ideally, the targets should
resemble the nature of the original material. However, given the many different types of original records
this is often not practical or technically impossible. Even though systems may perform differently
on the different types of originals this document provides tools to verify if a system is accurately
calibrated and in general performs well on a selected type of original. This is sufficient in most cases
because systems are usually designed to handle various types of originals (being close to the Luther
condition) Performance on specific types of originals however can only be verified if the tools are made
of that material. It is also important to note that an accurate reproduction usually requires subsequent
processing to render a visually pleasing image.
There are ISO standards for objectively measuring different performance characteristics of imaging
systems, e.g. resolution, noise, dynamic range, tone and colour reproduction (see Clause 2). This
document combines all of the standards that relate to the imaging systems quality analysis for cultural
heritage and defines a tool set to apply them to these devices and workflows. These tools are based
on the use of a test chart with multiple technical patterns coupled with software that allows the user
to analyse several imaging systems quality characteristics simultaneously and receive comprehensive
results. However, these tools are not based on a standardized image quality analysis method, which
has caused confusion among users. With the publication of this specification imaging systems quality
analysis tools can refer to an ISO document.
To support this document a standard with a glossary including all relevant terms and definitions
has been developed (ISO 19262). Further this document is accompanied by a Technical Report (ISO/
TR 19263-1) that provides practical guidance on how to use this document.
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TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION ISO/TS 19264-1:2017(E)
Photography — Archiving systems — Image quality
analysis —
Part 1:
Reflective originals
1 Scope
This document describes a method for analysing imaging systems quality in the area of cultural heritage
imaging. The method described analyses multiple imaging systems quality characteristics from a single
image of a specified test target. The specification states which characteristics are measured, how they
are measured, and how the results of the analysis need to be presented.
This specification applies to scanners and digital cameras used for digitization of cultural heritage
material.
NOTE This document addresses imaging of reflective originals, a future part two will address imaging of
transparent originals.
2 Normative references
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content
constitutes requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For
undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
ISO 12233, Photography — Electronic still picture imaging — Resolution and spatial frequency responses
ISO 14524, Photography — Electronic still-picture cameras — Methods for measuring opto-electronic
conversion functions (OECFs)
ISO 15739, Photography — Electronic still-picture imaging — Noise measurements
ISO 16067-1, Photography — Spatial resolution measurements of electronic scanners for photographic
images — Part 1: Scanners for reflective media
ISO 17957, Photography — Digital cameras — Shading measurements
ISO 21550, Photography — Electronic scanners for photographic images — Dynamic range measurements
CIE 15, Colorimetry
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at http: //www .iso .org/obp
— IEC Electropedia: available at http: //www .electropedia .org/
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ISO/TS 19264-1:2017(E)

3.1
acutance
numerical value that correlates to some extent with subjective image sharpness
[SOURCE: ISO 19262:2015, 3.1]
3.2
Adobe RGB 1998
three-component colour image encoding defined in Adobe RGB (1998) colour image encoding
Note 1 to entry: Adobe RGB 1998 Colour Image Encoding can be found under the following URL https: //www
.adobe .com/digitalimag/pdfs/AdobeRGB1998 .pdf
[SOURCE: ISO 12640-4:2011, 3.1, modified — addition of the Note 1 to entry.]
3.3
banding
imaging
unwanted stripes or bands that occur in a digital image
Note 1 to entry: Note1 to entry: Bands are usually caused by fixed pattern noise of sensors in scanners,
interference problems between electronic parts of a camera, or by too-coarse quantization.
[SOURCE: ISO 19262:2015, 3.9, modified — addition of “or by too-coarse quantization” in the Note 1
to entry.]
3.4
checkerboard
regular squared dark and bright structure on a surface like the one used on a chess board
[SOURCE: ISO 19262:2015, 3.18]
3.5
chroma, C*
chromatic
chromaticness, colourfulness, of an area judged as a proportion of the brightness of a similarly
illuminated area that appears white or highly transmitting
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC 8613-2:1995, 3.18]
3.6
CIELAB colour space
three-dimensional, approximately uniform colour space, produced by plotting, in rectangular
coordinates L*, a*, b*
Note 1 to entry: This colour space has been designed to be device independent.
[SOURCE: CIE Publication 15 and ISO/IEC 5631-1:2015, 3.6, modified — Note 1 to entry has been
modified.]
3.7
colour
sensation resulting from the visual perception of radiation of a given spectral composition
[SOURCE: ISO 4618:2014, 2.58, modified — definition slightly changed and Note 1 and Note 2 to entry
have been deleted.]
3.8
colour difference
distinction between two colours observed or measured under standard conditions
[SOURCE: ISO 12637-2:2008, 2.21]
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3.9
colour encoding
generic term for a quantized digital encoding of a colour space, encompassing both colour space
encodings and colour image encodings
[SOURCE: ISO/TS 22028-3:2012, 3.6]
3.10
colour misregistration
colour-to-colour spatial dislocation of otherwise spatially coincident colour features of an imaged object
[SOURCE: ISO 19262:2015, 3.42]
3.11
contrast
difference between the grey levels of two specified parts of the image
[SOURCE: ISO 21227-1:2003, 3.5.3]
3.12
pixel defect
pixel or subpixel that operates in a way other than the one in which it is driven
[SOURCE: ISO 9241-302:2008, 3.4.30]
3.13
ΔE
see colour difference
[SOURCE: ISO 19262:2015, 3.63]
3.14
digital image
digital file consisting of picture elements (pixels) with one or more digital code values per pixel that
represent a colour or tonal value
[SOURCE: ISO 19262:2015, 3.73, modified — deletion of the Note 1 to entry.]
3.15
digital imaging
process of creating digital images
Note 1 to entry: The term can also be used more generally to include digital image processing.
[SOURCE: ISO 19262:2015, 3.74]
3.16
digital imaging system
system that records and/or produces images using digital data
[SOURCE: ISO 12231:2012, 3.38]
3.17
digital still camera
DSC
device which incorporates an image sensor and produces a digital signal representing a still picture
Note 1 to entry: A digital still camera is typically a portable, hand-held device. The digital signal is usually
recorded on a removable memory, such as a solid-state memory card or magnetic disk.
[SOURCE: ISO 12231:2012, 3.40]
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3.18
digitization
act of generating a digital (quantized) representation of a continuous signal
[SOURCE: ISO 20998-1:2006, 2.7, modified — Tne Note 1 to entry has been deleted.]
3.19
distortion
geometric distortion
displacement from the ideal shape of a subject (lying on a plane parallel to the image plane) in the
recorded image
Note 1 to entry: It basically derives from variation of lateral magnification in the image field of a camera lens
and results in straight lines being rendered as curves. There are other factors to induce geometric distortion, for
example rotational asymmetricity of a camera lens or position shift processing in a camera imaging process.
[SOURCE: ISO 19262:2015, 3.82]
3.20
dynamic range
difference, over a given luminance range, between maximum and minimum signal levels, expressed in
decibels, contrast ratios or f-stops
Note 1 to entry: The minimum signal level needs to be greater than a specified usable signal level.
Note 2 to entry: This definition is derived from IEC 702–04–23 but was altered to match the imaging and
archiving application.
[SOURCE: ISO 19262:2015, 3.87]
3.20.1
ISO DSC dynamic range
ratio of the maximum luminance level that appears unclipped to the minimum luminance level that can
be reproduced with an incremental signal-to-temporal-noise ratio of at least 1, as determined according
to ISO 15739
[SOURCE: ISO 12231:2012, 3.86]
3.20.2
ISO scanner dynamic range
difference of the maximum density where the incremental gain is higher than 0,5, as determined
according to ISO 21550 to the minimum density that appears unclipped
[SOURCE: ISO 21550:2004, 3.13]
3.21
exposure
H
total quantity of light allowed to fall upon a photosensitive emulsion or an imaging sensor
Note 1 to entry: The exposure is measured in lux per second.
[SOURCE: ISO 10934-1:2002, 2.50, modified — A symbol, the field of application and a note to entry
have been added.]
3.22
fast scan direction
scan direction corresponding to the direction of the alignment of the addressable photoelements in a
linear array image sensor
[SOURCE: ISO 16067-1:2003, 3.7]
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3.23
gain modulation
variation of the gain over the signal level
Note 1 to entry: One example for a gain modulation is the application of a gamma to an image.
[SOURCE: ISO 19262:2015, 3.109]
3.24
gray scale
grey scale pattern
test chart consisting of test pattern based on spectrally neutral or effectively spectrally neutral, and
consists of a large number of different reflectance or transmittance values in a prescribed spatial
arrangement
Note 1 to entry: Grey scale patterns are typically used to measure opto-electronic conversion functions.
3.25
horizontal resolution
resolution value measured in the longer image dimension, corresponding to the horizontal direction for
a “landscape” image orientation, typically using a vertically oriented test-chart feature
[SOURCE: ISO 12231:2012, 3.65]
3.26
ICC profile
International Colour Consortium’s file format, used to store transforms from one colour encoding
to another, e.g. from device colour coordinates to profile connection space, as part of a colour
management system
[SOURCE: ISO 22028-1:2016, 3.24]
3.27
image quality
impression of the overall merit or excellence of an image, as perceived by an observer neither associated
with the act of photography, nor closely involved with the subject matter depicted
Note 1 to entry: The purpose of defining image quality in terms of third-party (uninvolved) observers is to
eliminate sources of variability that arise from more idiosyncratic aspects of image perception and pertain to
attributes outside the control of imaging system designers.
[SOURCE: ISO 20462-1:2005, 3.5]
3.28
limiting resolution
value of that portion of a specified resolution test pattern, measured in line widths per picture
height, which corresponds to an average modulation value equal to some specified percentage of the
modulation value at a specified reference frequency
Note 1 to entry: The limiting resolution could be the test pattern value, in line widths per picture height (w /h ),
l p
corresponding to a camera output modulation level of 10 % of the camera output modulation level at a reference
frequency of 10 w /h .
l p
3.29
maximum modulation
maximum value of the spatial frequency response
Note 1 to entry: Maximum modulation is an indicator for applied sharpening.
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3.30
modulation
difference between the minimum and maximum signal levels divided by the sum of these levels
[SOURCE: ISO/IEC 29112:2012, 3.17]
3.31
noise
unwanted variations in the response of an imaging system
[SOURCE: ISO 15739:2013, 3.9]
3.32
opto-electronic conversion function
OECF
relationship between the log of the input levels and the corresponding digital output levels for an opto-
electronic digital image capture system
Note 1 to entry: If the input log exposure points are very finely spaced and the output noise is small compared
to the quantization interval, the OECF possibly has a step-like character. Such behaviour is an artefact of the
quantization process and needs to be removed by using an appropriate smoothing algorithm or by fitting a
smooth curve to the data.
[SOURCE: ISO 17321-1:2012, 3.3]
3.33
original-referred image state
scene-referred
image state associated with image data that represents the colour-space coordinates of the elements of
a two dimensional hardcopy or softcopy image, typically produced by scanning artwork, photographic
transparencies or prints, or photomechanical or other reproductions
Note 1 to entry: When the phrase “original-referred” is used as a qualifier to an object, it implies that the object
is in an original-referred image state. For example, original-referred image data are image data in an original-
referred image state.
Note 2 to entry: Original-referred image data are related to the colour-space coordinates of the original, typically
measured according to ISO 13655, and do not include any additional veiling glare or other flare.
Note 3 to entry: The characteristics of original
...