Color Theory
Color Theory
Color Theory
• Sample Preparation
• The Effect of the Illuminant
• The Effect of the Object LIGHTING AND STANDARD ILLUMINANTS
• The Observer
• Color Communication • Visual Color Assessments
= Color Description
The term “illuminant” refers to a set of numbers that describe the spectral characteristics of a particular light,
while the term “light source” refers to a physical device that produces light, such as a fluorescent tube.
The effect of different light sources on fabric examples can be demonstrated in the figure below. As the color of
the light source changes from the bluish cast of daylight to the reddish yellow cast of U3500, the perceived color
of the sample changes.
As described earlier, there are other useful CIE descriptors such as a* (red/green), and b* (yellow/blue)
which are useful for communication of color differences.
*Please refer to your brand Color SOP for guidelines of sample conditioning
*Please refer to the brand Color SOP requirements for the primary, secondary and tertiary light sources to be used for all
visual and instrumental color evaluations
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