1. A method for operating a data processing system to generate a full color image comprising a first two-dimensional array of vectors, each vector in said first two-dimensional array comprising first, second, and third intensity values, each intensity value representing the intensity of a pixel in said full color image in a corresponding spectral band at a location in said full color image determined by the location of said vector in said first two-dimensional array, said method generating said first two-dimensional array of vectors from a two- dimensional array of scalars, each scalar in said two-dimensional array of scalars corresponding to one of said vectors in said first two-dimensional array of vectors, said scalar determining one of said first, second, or third intensity values at a corresponding location in said two-dimensional array of vectors, said method determining the remaining ones of said first, second, and third intensity values, said method comprising the steps of: (a) assigning a value to each one of said components of said vectors in said first two- dimensional array of vectors that is not determined by one of said scalars; (b) generating a luminance image and first and second chrominance images from said first two-dimensional array of vectors, each pixel in said luminance image being determined by the intensity of light from a corresponding pixel in said first two-dimensional array and each pixel in said first and second chrominance images representing the color of said pixel in said first two-dimensional array; (c) filtering said first and second chrominance images with a isotropic low-pass spatial filter to generate first and second filtered chrominance images; (d) generating a second two-dimensional array of vectors from said luminance image and said first and second filtered chrominance images, each vector in said second two- dimensional array comprising first, second, and third intensity values, each intensity value representing the intensity of a pixel in said full color image in a corresponding spectral band at a location in said full color image determined by the location of said vector in said first two-dimensional array; (e) setting a component of each vector in said second two-dimensional array to said scalar value in said two-dimensional array of scalars; (f) replacing said first two-dimensional array of vectors by said second two- dimensional array of vectors; and (g) repeating steps (b)-(f).