LOGO
An Overview on Color
Measurement and Color Scale
Introduction
In all branches of science and engineering, measurement plays an
important part.
In commerce materials are usually bought and sold by weight or
volume.
Without standardised systems for measuring mass, length and time,
modern life would be very difficult.
It is obvious that a standard system for measuring and specifying
colour is equally desirable.
However, there are important differences between colour and, for
example, length.
The colour of an object depends on many factors,
such as lighting,
size of sample, and
background and surrounding colours.
Things Required
Contd.
Almost all modern colour measurement is based on the CIE system
of colour specification. The initials come from the French title of the
international committee (Commission Internationale de l’Eclairage)
who set up the system in 1931.
Although additions have been made since, the basic structure and
principles are unchanged and the system is widely used.
When discussing colour in general, we could be considering
Coloured lights,
Coloured solutions or
Coloured surfaces such as painted surfaces, plastics and textiles.
Color Measurement
Color Measurement
The CIE X,Y, Z tristimulus color values are obtained by
multiplying the illuminant, the reflectance or transmittance
of the object, and the standard observer functions.
The product is then summed for all wavelengths in the
visible spectrum to give the resulting X, Y, Z tristimulus
values.
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Measuring Color
A Colorimetric Spectrophotometer uses a light source to
illuminate the sample being measured.
The light reflected by the object passes to a grating which
breaks it into its spectral components.
This sample signal falls onto a diode array, measuring the
amount of light at each wavelength.
The spectral data is sent to the processor where it is
multiplied with user-selected illuminant and observer
tables to obtain CIE X, Y, Z color values.
Colorimeter
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COLOR SCALES
Visual Organization of Color
All colors are organized in three dimensions: Lightness,
Chroma or Saturation , and Hue.
Visual Organization of Color
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Hue
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Value (Saturation)
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Chroma (Brightness)
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Visual versus Instrumental color
measurement
Visual evaluation of color is subjective and approximate.
Measuring color using an instrument provides objective
and precise results that correlate to human perception.
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In terms of object color, X, Y, Z values are not easily
understood. Other color scales have been developed to:
Better relate how we perceive color.
Simplify understanding.
Improve communication of color.
Better represent uniform color differences.
Opponent-Colors Theory
States red, green and blue cone responses are remixed
into opponent coders as they move up the optic nerve to
the brain.
A dominant theory of color vision proposes that color
information is transmitted out of the eye by three
opponent processes, or opponent channels, each
constructed from the raw output of the cones: a red-green
channel, a blue-yellow channel and a black-white
‘luminance’ channel.
When the next slide appears, focus on the black cross in
the center of the stripes until the slide automatically
changes to the white screen (after about 20 seconds).
Did you see the stripes as red, white and blue?
This happens because the green, black and yellow stripes
saturate the cone responses.
When you look at the blank screen your vision tries to
return to balance and you see a red, white and blue after-
image.
This demonstration supports the Opponent-Colors Theory
