Chromaticity Diagram
Continue Learning about perception of
Color and color mixing
Primaries = cone responses = “red”, “blue”, “green”
• Cones are
responsive to
range of
wavelengths
red (Long),
green
(Medium) and
blue (Short)
• Stimulate more
than one cone
type = various
colors (purple,
yellow…)
What are spectral colors?
Violet Blue Green Yellow Orange Red Infrared
400 nm 460 nm 530 nm 575 nm 600 nm 650 nm
Spectral colors are the color sensations we We are able to distinguish more than
perceive in a rainbow or spectrum of a prism a million different colors
Other names for spectral colors Most colors that we see are not
• Wavelength colors spectral colors. Examples:
• Monochromatic colors • White
Examples: 650 nm red, 530 nm green, • Pink
460 nm blue • Brown
Intensity distributions for color filters
How we characterize colors: Hue, Saturation and
Brightness (HSB, recall photoshop):
Hue is specified by the
dominant wavelength color in
the intensity-distribution
curve
Saturation is the purity of a
color (absence of other
wavelengths).
Brightness refers to the
sensation of overall intensity of Brightness Hue Saturation
Bright white Orange Desaturatated
a color orange = saturated
Grey Brown (same) orange + white
Black Blue Blue
The same color sensation can often be
produced by 2 or more different
intensity distribution curves
Here is an intensity distribution
curve which gives us the
sensation of yellow
Here is a different intensity
distribution curve which also
gives us the same sensation of
yellow
Hue, Saturation and Brightness (HSB):
Color tree (e.g. Fig. 9.5 in book)
• Moving up the tree increases the hue
lightness of a color
• Moving around a circle of given
lightness
radius changes the hue of a color
• Moving along a radius of a circle
saturation
changes the saturation (vividness) of
a color
• These three coordinates can be
described in terms of three numbers
Photoshop: uses H, S and B
specify a color
instead of using an intensity-distribution curve
or HSB
In addition to using Hue, Saturation and Brightness Demonstrate with Physics 2000
(HSB);
http://www.colorado.edu/physics/200
Many (but not all) colors can be described in
0/tv/colortv.html
terms of the relative intensities of a light mixture
of a certain wavelength red, wavelength green
and wavelength blue lights
• 650-nm red
• 530-nm green
• 460-nm blue
yellow
These are called the additive primaries 530-nm green 650-nm red
The mixing of the additive primaries is called
additive mixing
cyan magenta
• Additive mixing is usually done by mixing
primary color lights with different intensities
but there are other ways to be discussed later 460-nm blue
Complementary additive colors
Definition of complementary color (for additive
mixtures):
• The complement of a color is a second color.
When the second color is additively mixed
to the first, the result is white.
• Blue & yellow are complementary yellow
B + Y = W. green red
• Green & magenta are complementary white
G + M =W
• Cyan and red are complementary magenta
C + R =W cyan
• Magenta is not a wavelength color— it is not
in the rainbow blue
• There is at most one wavelength
complementary color for each wavelength
color (Fig 9.9)
Additive mixing of colored light
primaries
Blue added to Green added to Red added to
green = cyan. red = yellow. blue = magenta.
Complementary colored lights
(additive mixing)
Blue (primary) Green (primary) Red (primary)
and yellow. and magenta. and cyan.
Chromaticity diagrams: Yet another
way to represent colors by (3) numbers
The chromaticity diagram is in many ways
similar to a color tree
• A chromaticity diagram has a fixed brightness
or lightness for all colors less saturated colors
• Wavelength colors are on the horseshoe rim
but non-wavelength colors like magenta are on saturated
the flat part of the rim wavelength
• Inside are the less saturated colors, including colors
white at the interior
saturated
non-wavelength
colors
Different lightnesses are on other Chromaticity "tree"
chromaticity diagram "slices" along
3 numbers (x, y, z)
the trunk of a chromaticity "tree"
specify a color
Lightness (z)
hue x
hue
saturation saturation
color tree
We will now learn the many uses of a
chromaticity diagram
To identify colors with three
numbers
To predict the results of additive
mixing
To understand complementary
colors
To find the dominant hue of a color
XYZ chromaticity
Rescale X,Y, and Z to remove luminance, leaving chromaticity:
X Y Z
x= y= z=
X+Y+ Z X+Y+ Z X+Y+ Z
Because the sum of the chromaticity values x, y, and z is always
1.0, a plot of any two of them loses no information
Such a plot is a chromaticity plot
xz chromaticity
You’ve never seen this plot,
but it is perfectly valid. The
standard plots the x and y
chromaticity values.
CIE 1931 xy chromaticity (derived from SMJ
data)
Intended property:
non-negative
Intended property:
fitted to edge of right
triangle
Intended property:
white point at
(1/3, 1/3, 1/3)
CIE 1931 xy chromaticity (actual CIE
standard)
Pure (saturated) spectral colors around
the edge of the plot
Less pure (desaturated) colors in
the interior of the plot
Are the colors
correct ?
White at the centroid of the
plot (1/3, 1/3)
Image from www.wikipedia.com
Using the chromaticity diagram to
identify colors
The numbers that we use to identify a color are
its x-value and y-value inside the diagram and a
z-value to indicate its brightness or lightness
x and y specify the chromaticity of a color
• Example: Apple pickers are told around the
country that certain apples are best picked when
they are a certaim red (see black dot)
• Since the chromaticity diagram is a world
standard the company can tell its employees to
pick when the apples have chromaticity
• x = 0.57
• y = 0.28
The "purest" white is at x = 0.33 and y = 0.33
Chromaticity diagram can be related to colors
in Photoshop
Using the chromaticity diagram to understand the result of
additive mixing of colors
An additive mixture of two wavelength colors Note — this works for adding
lies along the line joining them two colors in middle also!
Example: The colors seen by mixing 700
nm red and 500 nm green lie along the line
shown
Where along the line is the color of the
mixture?
Answer depends on the relative intensities of
the 700 nm red and the 500 nm green.
• Here is what you get when the green is
much more intense than the red (a green)
• Here is what you get when the red is much
more intense than the green (a red)
• Here is what you get when the red is slightly
more intense than the green (a yellow)
Using the chromaticity diagram to
understand complementary colors
The complement to any wavelength
color on the edge of the
chromaticity diagram is obtained by
drawing a straight line from that
color through white to the other
edge of the diagram
• Example: The complement to 700
nm red is 490 nm cyan
• Example: The complement to green
is magenta - a non-wavelength color
Using the chromaticity diagram to find
the dominant hue of a color in the
interior of the diagram
To find the dominant hue of the color
indicated by the black dot
• Draw st. line from white through the
point to get dominant wavelength, and
hence, hue (547 nm green)
Works because additive mixture of
white with a fully-saturated
(wavelength) color gives the
desaturated color of the original
point
