Imaging systems and methods are disclosed for generating enhanced visual representations of captured data such as infrared image data. For example, the perceived color distance or contrast between colors representing adjacent output levels (e.g., temperature or infrared intensity levels) are enhanced in visual representations of infrared images. According to embodiments, infrared image data values representing a scene may be mapped according to a color palette implemented using complementary colors as adjacent (e.g., successive) base colors or a sequence of colors, that repeats a predetermine set of hues with varying saturation and/or intensity, thereby increasing the color contrast between pixels representing subtle temperature differences in the scene. The color palette can be enlarged by mapping a larger number of distinct output levels to a larger sequence of colors, for example by increasing the bit-depth of the color palette, such that color transitions look smoother and more natural.