Hyperspectral Imaging for Degraded Positive Film Digitization and Color Correction

Ivan Turbincă is an animated film produced by the Romanian studio Animafilm in the 1980s. The positive copy under investigation is printed on a safety film and has deteriorated over time, mainly suffering from uniform color fading, which gives all frames a reddish tint. Produced during the Romanian communist era by a state-owned company and widely distributed in Romanian households, this film is part of a significant collection of entertainment and educational works essential for analyzing the cultural production of this historical period. While digitization is typically performed using color RGB scanners, we propose a hyperspectral imaging setup to digitize, analyze, and correct the colors of this cultural heritage material. We hypothesize that, while spatial resolution of the resulting scan is still low, spectral data acquired in the visible range can provide accurate color information, enabling color correction. After evaluating the setup's capability to capture and correct the colors of the frames, we conclude that hyperspectral imaging is a relevant technique for acquiring, restoring, and preserving the colors of damaged positive films.