HSV Center-Distance Method: Origins and Applications in Color Space Transformations

The earliest English literature on the HSV color space and its center-distance method appears to be the following:

• Smith, A. R. (1978). Color gamut transform pairs. Proceedings of the Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers, 125, 338-346.

This paper presents a method for transforming colors between RGB, CMY, and HSV color spaces, and introduces the concept of a 'color gamut transform pair' that preserves hue and saturation while changing brightness. The center-distance method is briefly mentioned as a way to compare colors in the HSV space, but the paper focuses more on the color transformation aspect.