When converting an image in OpenCV from color to grayscale, what conversion algorithm is used? I tried to look this up in the source code on GitHub, but I did not have any success.
The lightness method averages the most prominent and least prominent colors:
(max(R, G, B) + min(R, G, B)) / 2.
The average method simply averages the values:
(R + G + B) / 3.
The luminosity method is a more sophisticated version of the average method. It also averages the values, but it forms a weighted average to account for human perception. We’re more sensitive to green than other colors, so green is weighted most heavily.
The formula for luminosity is 0.21 R + 0.72 G + 0.07 B.
Here is an example of some conversion algorithms: http://www.johndcook.com/blog/2009/08/24/algorithms-convert-color-grayscale/