Models and Mathematical Issues in Color Film Restorations

The state of the art of current methods of film restoration (photographic and cinematographic) suggest the use of digital technologies to retrieve and restore faded and damaged original frames. In this context, the use of suitable mathematical and computational models can support the restorer in reconstructing the original state of the film and provide faster and cheaper restoration techniques. In this work, we discuss some of the main problems and open issues in film restoration, to promote new approaches and research directions that could benefit from mathematical modeling. In this direction, we present a color and contrast restoration approach based on the application of Spatial Color Algorithms (SCAs) to estimate the original color appearance in films, based on the Retinex model of human color visual sensation.