MISN-0-229
COLORS FROM SPECTRAL DISTRIBUTIONS
COLORS FROM SPECTRAL DISTRIBUTIONS by Peter Signell, Michigan State University
sunlight
1. Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
relative intensity
grass in sunlight
2. Method a. Actual-Light Times Tri-Stimulus Responses . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 b. Origin of the Multiplication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 c. Setting the Incoming-Light Intensity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 d. Deducing the Multiplication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 e. Getting the Chromaticity Coordinates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 3. Practical Details a. Digitization of the Continuous Distributions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 b. Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Acknowledgments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 A. Data for Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
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Project PHYSNET Physics Bldg. Michigan State University East Lansing, MI
ID Sheet: MISN-0-229 THIS IS A DEVELOPMENTAL-STAGE PUBLICATION OF PROJECT PHYSNET The goal of our project is to assist a network of educators and scientists in transferring physics from one person to another. We support manuscript processing and distribution, along with communication and information systems. We also work with employers to identify basic scientic skills as well as physics topics that are needed in science and technology. A number of our publications are aimed at assisting users in acquiring such skills. Our publications are designed: (i) to be updated quickly in response to eld tests and new scientic developments; (ii) to be used in both classroom and professional settings; (iii) to show the prerequisite dependencies existing among the various chunks of physics knowledge and skill, as a guide both to mental organization and to use of the materials; and (iv) to be adapted quickly to specic user needs ranging from single-skill instruction to complete custom textbooks. New authors, reviewers and eld testers are welcome. PROJECT STAFF Andrew Schnepp Eugene Kales Peter Signell Webmaster Graphics Project Director
Title: Colors from Spectral Distributions Author: P. Signell, Michigan State University Version: 2/1/2000 Length: 1 hr; 16 pages Input Skills: 1. Vocabulary: photon, wavelength, nanometer(nm) (MISN-0-212); monochromatic, tristimulus response values (MISN-0-227). 2. Given the wavelength of any monochromatic light beam, state its approximate perceived color (MISN-0-212). 3. Given a mixture of two monochromatic light beams, plus the tristimulus values, determine the relative responses of each of the three types of cone receptors (MISN-0-227). Output Skills (Knowledge): K1. Outline the procedure for combining the wavelength distribution of light energy coming from an object and the tristimulus values to produce the lights chromaticity coordinates. Justify the procedure. Output Skills (Rule Application): R1. Given the wavelength distribution of light energy coming from an object, and a table of tristimulus values, compute the lights chromaticity coordinates. Evaluation: Stage 0
ADVISORY COMMITTEE D. Alan Bromley E. Leonard Jossem A. A. Strassenburg Yale University The Ohio State University S. U. N. Y., Stony Brook
Views expressed in a module are those of the module author(s) and are not necessarily those of other project participants. c 2001, Peter Signell for Project PHYSNET, Physics-Astronomy Bldg., Mich. State Univ., E. Lansing, MI 48824; (517) 355-3784. For our liberal use policies see: [Link]
MISN-0-229
MISN-0-229
COLORS FROM SPECTRAL DISTRIBUTIONS
relative intensity
by Peter Signell, Michigan State University 1. Overview
Light entering the human eye normally contains a continuous distribution of wavelengths. The cover of this module shows continuous spectral distributions from the sun (looking directly at it, which you should never do) and from fresh lawn grass in sunlight. These curves show the distribution of energy that would enter your eye in each case. Note that the light entering your eye when you are looking at lawn grass peaks in the green part of the spectrum, as you would expect. In this module we show you how to calculate the chromaticity coordinates for such continuous spectral distributions.
grass in sunlight
tri-stimulus
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Figure 1. Spectral distribution of light from summer grass and the even distribution assumed for the 1931 CIE TriStimulus values. Of course the light reaching the eye does not, in general, have such an even distribution so the energy in each wavelength band must be corrected for the dierence between its actual level and the level it would have in the constant-distribution standard. Assuming linear responses in the eye, this is just a multiplication. 2c. Setting the Incoming-Light Intensity. Now the chromaticity coordinates of a light beam are independent of the over-all intensity of that beam, so we can set the level of the light entering the eye at a value that makes the calculations easiest. Thus we set the average level of the incoming light at the constant value assumed for the tri-stimulus (even) distribution. 2d. Deducing the Multiplication. With the average level of the actual light set at the constant level that produces the tri-stimulus values, it is obvious that the actual-light cone responses in a band are the actual light intensity times the three tri-stimulus values for that band. Thus if in some band the actual light has half the intensity of the same band in the even-distribution light, then that band in the actual light will produce half the cone response of the same band in the even-distribution (tri-stimulus) light. Similarly, an actual-light band with three times as much light as the corresponding even-distribution band produces three times the response of the even-distribution (tri-stimulus) band.
2. Method
2a. Actual-Light Times Tri-Stimulus Responses. Suppose we have the goal of determining the (numerical) perceived color of some light entering the eye. Suppose also that we are given the spectral distribution of that light entering the eye. To obtain the chromaticity coordinates of the light (hence its numerical color) we: (1) chop the eyes tri-stimulus response curves into narrow wavelength bands; (2) multiply the amount of tri-stimulus response in each band by the amount of light actually coming into the eye in that band; (3) sum each of the three responses over all bands; and (4) normalize the responses. 2b. Origin of the Multiplication. Basically, the multiplication of the actual-light distribution by the tri-stimulus values comes about because the tri-stimulus values are what the cone responses would be if the incoming light had a constant spectral distribution (see Fig. 1). That is: the tri-stimulus values are only responses to light with an even distribution, meaning one that has a constant spectral distribution (in the case at hand, the same amount of total energy in each band).1
1 Of course one cannot really produce an even-distribution light beam, but some laboratory sources and the equatorial sun at its zenith come close. An even distribution has been chosen as the standard so as to make calculations easier.
MISN-0-229
MISN-0-229 tting of the curves with functions and then multiplying the functions.
relative intensity
3b. Summary.
Here is a summary of the procedure we use:
grass in sunlight
1. multiply the light intensity at the center of each band by each of the three tri-stimulus values (x , y , z ) at the center of that band; 2. sum those products separately for each cone type, producing three integrated response values; X, Y , and Z. Use the Appendix table to nd the integrated response intensities for summer grass in sunlight. We nd X = 6766, Y = 10058, and Z = 2608. Help: [S-1] Use the table in the Appendix to nd the chromaticity coordinates for human skin illuminated by a 60 Watt light bulb, and summer grass in sunlight. We nd x = 0.51, y = 0.40 for the rst, x = 0.35, y = 0.52 for the second. Help: [S-2]
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Figure 2. Illustration of breaking the grass curve of Fig. 1 into 20 nm-wide bands for the purpose of digitizing the curve.
2e. Getting the Chromaticity Coordinates. Once we have the actual-light responses in each band for each type of cone, we sum the responses for each cone over all the bands. That gives us the total actuallight response for each of the three cone types. From those three numbers, commonly designated X, Y , and Z, we calculate the chromaticity coordinates x and y in the usual way.2
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank Richard Hall, Richard McCoy, T. H. Edwards and Beth Wendt for their very helpful reviews. Preparation of this module was supported in part by the National Science Foundation, Division of Science Education Development and Research, through Grant #SED 7420088 to Michigan State University.
3. Practical Details
3a. Digitization of the Continuous Distributions. To approximate a continuous distribution by a complete set of constant-width rectangular bands, we will use the simple method of setting the height of each band at the value of the bands center point. Here we perform this digitization for each of the four distributions involved: the spectral distribution of the actual light coming into the eye and the tri-stimulus spectral response curves for each of the eyes three types of cones. For example, suppose we take bands 20 nm wide (e.g. 400-420 nm, 420-440 nm, . . . as in Fig. 2) for the grass in sunlight curve on the cover of this module with corresponding values in the Appendix table. Then we say that to a good approximation the the amount of light in the 420-440 nm band is the value quoted in the Appendix table for summer grass in sunlight at the bands center point, 430 nm. Similarly, we take the 420-440 nm cone responses to be their values at 430 nm. There are various ways that professionals make the digitization process more accurate, such as by using narrower bands or by piecewise
2 See
Color Specication: Chromaticity, MISN-0-227.
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A. Data for Calculations
400 410 420 430 440 450 460 470 480 490 500 510 520 530 540 550 560 570 580 590 600 610 620 630 640 650 660 670 680 690 700 sg,sl 47 87 103 110 164 201 238 273 308 448 644 941 1163 1271 1366 1369 1300 1131 853 615 525 549 559 470 294 82 0 151 322 509 975 hs,sb 23 30 43 55 69 85 97 117 141 158 176 206 227 235 256 294 367 376 422 491 609 692 828 923 1022 1127 1177 1227 1275 1323 1369 x 14 44 134 284 348 336 291 195 96 32 5 9 63 166 290 433 595 762 916 1026 1062 1003 854 642 448 284 165 87 47 23 11 y 0 1 4 12 23 38 60 91 139 208 323 503 710 862 954 995 995 952 870 757 631 503 381 265 175 107 61 32 17 8 4 z 68 207 646 1386 1747 1772 1669 1288 813 465 272 158 78 42 20 9 4 2 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
sg,sl: summer grass in sunlight: see Note above. References are (a) and (d) below. hs,sb: human skin illuminated by standard 60 Watt light bulb; see Note above. References are (b) and (e) below. All human skin is close to being the same color, in the sense of chromaticity coordinates, but the intensity of the light coming from skin varies immensely over people that arose (in an evolutionary sense) from dierent climates (these are dierences in skin reectivity). x , y , z : 1931 CIE Standard Observer Tri-stimulus Values: see Note above. Reference is (c) below. Values shown are actual values 1000 (e.g. actual value is: x (400 nm) = 14/1000 = 0.014). The use of whole numbers makes calculator or computer entry easier. References: a. E. L. Krinov, Spectral Reectance Properties of Natural Formations, translation by G. Belkov, issued as Technical Translation 439, National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa (1953), Appendix I, No. 164. b. E. A. Edwards and S. Q. Duntley, Science 90, 235 (1939), graph digitized by present author. c. G. Wyszecki and W. S, Stiles, Color Science, John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York (1967), Table 3.2. d. P. Moon, Proposed Standard Solar Radiation Curves for Engineering Use, J. Franklin Institute, 230 583 (1940). Normal incidence, mean solar distance, sea level, all as quoted in Table 2.1 of Ref. (c). e. Table 1.6 of Ref. (c).
Note: The second and third columns contain relative values: if all numbers in one of those columns are multiplied by any single number, it will have no eect on the columns chromaticity coordinates. All the numbers in the fourth, fth, and sixth columns, together, can be multiplied by the same single number and it will have no eect on deduced chromaticity coordinates. : wavelength in nm.
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PS-1
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AS-1
PROBLEM SUPPLEMENT
This symbol marks problems that are in the text. Those problems are part of this modules problem set: do all of them properly before attempting the problems below. Note: The problem also occurs on this modules Model Exam. 1. Suppose light coming from a particular manufacturers sample has this relative energy distribution, specied for 20 nm-wide bins whose midpoints go from 400 nm to 700 nm: 27, 35, 42, 48, 53, 57, 60, 53, 48, 35, 18, 8, 0, 0, 0, 0. Compute the lights chromaticity coordinates, given these two of the three integrated response intensities: X = 145, Y = 216. S-1
SPECIAL ASSISTANCE SUPPLEMENT
(from TX-3b)
X = (47 0.014) + (87 0.044) + (103 0.134) . . . = 6766 If you dont understand this, note: In Appendix A the values shown under x , etc. should be divided by 1000 before being used (see note after the table of numbers in Appendix A). S-2 (from TX-3b)
(nm) 400 420 440 460 480 500 520 540 560 580 600 620 640 660 680 700
1000 times x y z 14 0 68 134 4 646 348 23 1747 291 60 1669 96 139 813 5 323 272 63 710 78 290 954 20 595 995 4 916 870 2 1062 631 1 854 381 0 448 175 0 165 61 0 47 17 0 11 4 0
See [S-1] for summer grass in sunlight. For human skin in 60 W bulb light: X = (23 0.014) + (30 0.044) + . . . = 5623 Z = (23 0.068) + (30 0.207) + . . . = 1002 Note: Using 20 nm - wide bands produces X = 2850, Z = 499. For converting X, Y , and Z to x and y, see MISN-0-227.
Brief Answers: 1. Z = 243; x = 0.24, y = 0.36.
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ME-1
MODEL EXAM
1. See Output Skill K1 in this modules ID Sheet. 2. Suppose light coming from a particular manufacturers sample has this relative energy distribution, specied for 20 nm - wide bins whose midpoints go from 400 nm to 700 nm: 27, 35, 42, 48, 53, 57, 60, 53, 48, 35, 18, 8, 0, 0, 0, 0. Compute the lights chromaticity coordinates, given these two of the three integrated response intensities: X = 145, Y = 216. (nm) 400 420 440 460 480 500 520 540 560 580 600 620 640 660 680 700 1000 times x y z 14 0 68 134 4 646 348 23 1747 291 60 1669 96 139 813 5 323 272 63 710 78 290 954 20 595 995 4 916 870 2 1062 631 1 854 381 0 448 175 0 165 61 0 47 17 0 11 4 0
Brief Answers: 1. See this modules text. 2. See this modules Problem Supplement, problem 1.
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