@horneps
This is a visual diff image - the optimizer uses this as the objective function to find vibe settings on a new image vs the reference image. The rule is delta-e < 1 and pearson correlation > .99 to pass.
I didn't think ahead about how far down into exact maths I should go here! Not only did I have to build my own lightroom, I had to build my own image analysis tools, and THEN the optimiser. But it makes sense... it's called "back testing"... I knew that - but got ahead of myself.
Catching up.