LAUSR

Abstract. The image quality was studied using event-related potentials (ERPs), behavioral data, and psychological measurement. In our experiment, different quality images were obtained by changing σ values in the Gaussian kernel function. The results showed that measurable ERPs, behavioral data, and psychological parameters varied with the change in the image quality. The more impaired image elicited the higher and earlier ERPs components over all scalp areas. Meanwhile, the response time reduced and detection rate increased with an increase in the blurriness level σ. The P300 and N200 components of different scalp areas elicited by different image qualities were analyzed. The N200 amplitude and P300 latency over the anterior scalp region were stronger and shorter than the ones over central and posterior scalp regions. The P300 and N200 amplitude over the middle scalp location were stronger than the ones over left and right scalp locations. The influence of image content is not significant. The image quality could be assessed by P300 and N200 amplitude over the nine scalp areas, and the anterior and middle scalp areas have higher PLCC, SROCC, and KROCC values than other scalp areas. The influence of P300 amplitude on the estimated scores is smaller than that of N200 for most scalp areas. The result had a good correlation with subjective rating scores, which proved the feasibility of utilizing ERPs to assess image quality.