Color Theory

Introduction

Appearance is more than Color

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Color is one Aspect of Appearance

others are:

texture

gloss

reflex (flop)

opacity

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haze
45

60

Color is a Perception
Perception is affected by
 Surrounding colors
 What we have seen before
 Food and drugs
 Age

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Simultaneous Contrast
Is each circle the same color?

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Simultaneous Contrast
Is each circle the same color?

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Simultaneous Contrast

Do these designs contain

the same colors?


Are these circles

the same color?

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Successive Contrast
Stare at the white dot on the flag

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Color Communication
Humans
Variable
Poor Color Memory
General
See
Think

Instruments
Repeatable
Digital Storage
Precise
Measure
Calculate
datacolor
international

LAV

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Visual Color Evaluation - A Light Booth

datacolor
international

Primary Source
Secondary Sources
High Illumination

450

Matte, mid-tone
gray interior

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Color-Measuring Instruments





Colorimeters
Densitometers
Spectrophotometers
Goniospectrophotometers

LAV

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The actual Spectro Family

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Three Dimensions of Color

hue
chroma
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lightness

A Numerical Color Space

The CIE System

Light Sources

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Objects

Observers

Color depends on the Light Source

The same object has different colors under different lights

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Light is Energy
Our eyes detect only a small portion of the
electromagnetic spectrum
cosmic rays

uv

heat

x-rays

microwave
visible light

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tv & radio

C.I.E. Standard Illuminants

power

250

D?
200
150

D55
D65
D75

100
50
0
400 nm
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700 nm
560 nm

How Materials modify Light

diffuse
specular
reflection

regular
specular
reflection

scattering

internal
reflection

transmission
absorption
refraction

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Light - Object Interaction

An apple absorbs violet and green light
while reflecting orange and red light.

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A Spectrophotometer

LIGHT SOURCE
MONOCHROMATOR
DETECTOR

LENS
ANALOG to DIGITAL
CONVERTER
SAMPLE

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An Integrating Sphere d/8

to monochromator

specular
port
8

D65 filter

specular
illumination

light source

coating inside

sample
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Spectral Curves
This graph shows the percentage of light
reflected by the apple at each wavelength.
100%

%R

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400n
m

700nm

Six Concentrations of Blue

The shape of this spectral curve is characteristic
of a particular colorant
100
75

2
5
10
20
40
60

50

25

0
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400 nm

700 nm

A Fluorescent Yellow
Some colorants absorb ultra-violet energy and
re-emit that energy in the visible spectrum
150
125
100
75
50
25
0
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400 nm

700 nm

The Standard Observer Experiment

the experiment setup:
red, green and blue lamps with
adjustable outputs

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target color lamp

The Standard Observer Experiment

Subjects matched the target color
by adjusting red, green and blue lamps
r = ??

g = ??

b = ??
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r g b Color-Matching Functions
Experimenters found amounts of red, green and blue
lamps needed to match each color of the spectrum
0 .3 5
0 .3
0 .2 5
0 .2
0 .1 5

0 .1
0 .0 5
0
-0 .0 5
- 0 . 1Copyright 2004 Datacolor.

All rights reserved.

- - -

A Transformation: rgb to xyz

To avoid the inconveniences of calculating with
negative amounts, the rgb values were transformed
1 .8
1 .6
1 .4

1 .2

1
0 .8
0 .6
0 .4
0 .2
0

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A Second Recommendation
In 1964 CIE recommended a second
observer based on larger target areas

10

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 1964

 1931

The CIE Standard Observers

1964 10
1931 2

z
2

1 .5

y
1

0 .5

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A Colorimetric Description

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Color
=
Perception

Colorimetric
=
Description

CIE Tristimulus Values

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Flare
a color shift caused by a change in light source

D65

X = 31.3
Y = 20.1
Z = 6.1
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X = 47.1
Y = 27.2
Z = 2.0

Illuminant Metamerism
Metameric pairs of objects match under one condition. . .

X = 15.4
Y = 20.2
Z = 20.4

X = 15.4
Y = 20.2
Z = 20.4

35

35

30

30

25

25

20

20

15

15

10

10

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D65

Illuminant Metamerism
Metameric pairs of objects match under one condition. . .
and not under another.


X = 15.4
Y = 20.2
Z = 20.4

X = 17.2
Y = 18.5
Z = 7.00

35

35

30

30

25

25

20

20

15

15

10

10

A
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Metamerism
Four reflectance curves which yield equal tristimulus
values for D65 and the 2observer
100

X = 28.5
Y = 30.0
Z = 32.6

80
60
40
20
0

D65
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Non-Linear Transformations of xyY

Space
HunterLab (Hunter) 1942
ANLAB (Adams-Nickerson) 1950
FMCII (Friele-MacAdam's-Chickering)
CIE L*a*b* 1978

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CIELAB Color Space

+L*
+b*
C*
-a*

+a*
+h

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-b*

-L *

Munsell hues in CIE space

+b*

YR

h (hue angle)
R
+a*

-a*

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-b*

CIE Metric Chroma C*

equal C*
circles

+b*

-a*

+a*

-b*
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increasing
saturation
(chroma)

CIELAB Color Difference

da*, db*
da*

+b*

= aB - aS

dE* = (dL2 + da2 + db2)1/2

bB

batch
as

-a*

aB

db*

= bB - bS

bS
standard

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-b*

+a*

CIE LCh Color Differences

C* H*

b*

dE* = (dL2 + dC2 + dH2)1/2

CSTD dH
CBAT

dC* = C*BAT - C*STD

a*

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Tolerances: Historical Analysis

b*

Standard
Acceptable
Unacceptable
Tolerance
Limit

a*
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