5 The Perception of Color

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Chapter 5 The
Master
Perception
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of Color

5.1 Basic Principles of Color Perception

5.2 Step 1: Color Detection
5.3 Step 2: Color Discrimination
5.4 Step 3: Color Appearance
5.5 Individual Differences in Color Perception
5.6 From the Color of Lights to a World of Color
5.7 What Is Color Vision Good For?
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Color is not a physical property but a psychophysical

property.
“There is no red in a 700 nm light, just as there is no pain in
the hooves of a kicking horse.” –Steven Shevell (2003)

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Most of the light we see is reflected.

• Typical light sources: Sun, light bulb, fire
• We see only part of the electromagnetic spectrum,
between 400 and 700 nm.

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Three steps to color perception:

1. Detection: Wavelengths of light must be detected in the
first place.
2. Discrimination: We must be able to tell the difference
between one wavelength (or mixture of wavelengths) and
another.
3. Appearance: We want to assign perceived colors to lights
and surfaces in the world and have those perceived colors
be stable over time, regardless of different lighting
conditions.
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Figure 5.1 Photoreceptor types
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Three types of cone photoreceptors:

• S-cones detect short wavelengths (blue range).
• M-cones detect medium wavelengths (green range).
• L-cones detect long wavelengths (red range).

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More accurate to refer to the three cones as “short,”

“medium,” and “long” rather than “blue,” “green,” and “red,”
since they each respond to a variety of wavelengths.
• The L-cone’s peak sensitivity is 565 nm, which
corresponds to yellow, not red!

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Photopic: Light intensities that are bright enough to

stimulate the cone receptors and bright enough to
“saturate” the rod receptors to their maximum responses.
• Sunlight and bright indoor lighting are both photopic
lighting conditions.

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Scotopic: Light intensities that are bright enough to

stimulate the rod receptors but too dim to stimulate the
cone receptors.
• Moonlight and extremely dim indoor lighting are both
scotopic lighting conditions.

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The principle of univariance

An infinite set of different wavelength and intensity
combinations can elicit exactly the same response from a
single type of photoreceptor.
• Therefore, one type of photoreceptor cannot make color
discriminations based on wavelength.

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Figure 5.2 Responding to one wavelength
Figure 5.3 Univariance
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Rods are sensitive to scotopic light levels.

• All rods contain the same photopigment molecule:
rhodopsin.
• Therefore, all rods have the same sensitivity to different
wavelengths of light.
• Consequently, rods obey the principle of univariance and
cannot sense differences in color.
• Under scotopic conditions, only rods are active, so that is
why the world seems drained of color.

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Figure 5.4 Rod vision
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With three cone types, we can tell the difference between

lights of different wavelengths.
• Under photopic conditions, the S-, M-, and L-cones are
all active.

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Figure 5.5 Solving univariance
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Trichromacy (trichromatic theory of color vision)

The theory that the color of any light is defined in our visual
system by the relationships of three numbers, the outputs
of three receptor types now known to be the three cones.
• Also known as the Young-Helmholtz theory

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Metamers
Different mixtures of wavelengths that look identical; more
generally, any pair of stimuli that are perceived as identical
in spite of physical differences.

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Figure 5.7 Metamers (Part 1)
Figure 5.7 Metamers (Part 2)
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History of color vision

• Thomas Young (1773–1829) and Hermann von
Helmholtz (1821–1894) independently discovered the
trichromatic nature of color perception.
o This
is why trichromatic theory is called the “Young-
Helmholtz theory.”
• James Maxwell (1831–1879) developed a color-
matching technique that is still being used today.

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Figure 5.8 Maxwell’s color-matching experiment
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Additive color mixing: A mixture of lights

• If light A and light B are both reflected from a surface to
the eye, in the perception of color, the effects of those
two lights add together.

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Figure 5.10 Additive color mixture
Figure 5.11 Pointillism
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Subtractive color mixing: A mixture of pigments.

• If pigment A and B mix, some of the light shining on the
surface will be subtracted by A and some by B. Only the
remainder contributes to the perception of color.

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Figure 5.9 Subtractive color mixture
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Lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) has cells that are maximally

stimulated by spots of light.
• Visual pathway stops in LGN on the way from retina to visual
cortex.
• LGN cells have receptive fields with center-surround
organization.
Cone-opponent cell: A neuron whose output is based on a
difference between sets of cones.
• In LGN there are cone-opponent cells with center-surround
organization.
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Color space: A three-dimensional space that describes all

colors. There are several possible color spaces.
• RGB color space: Defined by the outputs of long,
medium, and short wavelength lights (i.e., red, green,
and blue).

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• HSB color space: Defined by hue, saturation, and

brightness.
o Hue: The chromatic (color) aspect of light.
o Saturation: The chromatic strength of a hue.
o Brightness: The distance from black in color space.

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Figure 5.13 Computer color pickers may offer several ways to specify a color in a three-dimensional color space
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The Limits of the Rainbow

• Nonspectral colors: Some colors that we see do not
correspond to a single wavelength of light.
o Purpleand magenta are only perceived when both S-
and L-cones are stimulated but M-cones are not.

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Figure 5.14 Nonspectral colors
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Opponent color theory: The theory that perception of color

depends on the output of three mechanisms, each of them
based on an opponency between two colors: red–green,
blue–yellow, and black–white.
• Some LGN cells are excited by L-cone activation in
center, inhibited by M-cone activation in their surround
(and vice versa).
o Red versus green

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• Other cells are excited by S-cone activation in center,

inhibited by (L + M)-cone activation in their surround
(and vice versa).
o Blue versus yellow

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Ewald Hering (1834–1918) noticed that some color

combinations are “legal” while others are “illegal.”
• We can have bluish green (cyan), reddish yellow
(orange), or bluish red (purple).
• We can not have reddish green or bluish yellow.

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Figure 5.15 Opponent colors
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Hue cancellation experiments

• Start with a color, such as bluish green.
• The goal is to end up with pure green with no hints of
blue or yellow.
• Shine some yellow light to cancel out the blue light.
o Adjust the intensity of the yellow light until there is no
sign of either blue or yellow in the green patch.

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Figure 5.16 Color cancellation method (Example 1)
Figure 5.16 Color cancellation method (Example 2)
Figure 5.16 Color cancellation method (Example 3)
Figure 5.16 Color cancellation method (Example 4)
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We can use the hue cancellation paradigm to determine the

wavelengths of unique hues.
• Unique hue: Any of four colors that can be described
with only a single color term: red, yellow, green, blue.
• For instance, unique blue is a blue that has no red or
green tint.

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Figure 5.16 Color cancellation method (Part A)
Figure 5.16 Color cancellation method (Part B)
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The three steps of color perception, revisited

• Step 1: Detection
o S-, M-, and L-cones detect light.
o Eachcone responds to a different range of
wavelengths of light.

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The three steps of color perception, revisited

• Step 2: Discrimination
o Cone-opponent mechanisms discriminate
wavelengths.
o [L
– M] and [M – L] compute something like red vs.
green.
o [L+ M] – S and S – [L + M] compute something like
blue vs. yellow.

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The three steps of color perception, revisited

• Step 3: Appearance
o Furthertransformations of the signals create final
color-opponent appearance.

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Figure 5.17 Three steps to color perception (Part 1)
Figure 5.17 Three steps to color perception (Part 2)
Figure 5.17 Three steps to color perception (Part 3)
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Color in the Visual Cortex

Is there a particular place in the cortex specialized for color
processing?
• Not clear: V1, V2, and V4 all involved in color
perception, but not exclusively.
• Achromatopsia: Loss of color vision from brain damage.

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Language and Color

• General agreement on colors
o Basic color terms: Single words that describe colors,
are used with high frequency, and have meanings that
are agreed upon by speakers of a language.

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Figure 5.18 Basic color names
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• Various cultures describe color differently.

• Cultural relativism: In sensation and perception, the
idea that basic perceptual experiences (e.g., color
perception) may be determined in part by the cultural
environment.

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Figure 5.19 Color category boundaries
Figure 5.20 A color category experiment
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Genetic Differences in Color Perception

• About 8% of males and 0.5% of females have some
form of color vision deficiency: “color blindness.”
o Color-anomalous: A term for what is usually called
“color blindness.” Most “color-blind” individuals can
still make discriminations based on wavelength.
Those discriminations are just different from the
norm.

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Several types of color-blind/color-anamolous people

• Deuteranope: Due to absence of M-cones.
• Protanope: Due to absence of L-cones.
• Tritanope: Due to absence of S-cones.

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• Cone monochromat: Has only one cone type; truly

color-blind.
• Rod monochromat: Has no cones of any type; truly
color-blind and very visually impaired in bright light.
• Anomia: Inability to name objects or colors in spite of
the ability to see and recognize them. Typically due to
brain damage.

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Synesthesia: When one stimulus evokes the experience of

another stimulus that is not present.
• Example: letters appearing to have colors (grapheme-
color synesthesia) or sounds having tastes
• About 4-5% of the population experiences synesthesia

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Colors very rarely appear in isolation. Usually, many colors

are present in a scene.
• When many colors are present, they can influence each
other.
• Color contrast: A color perception effect in which the
color of one region induces the opponent color in a
neighboring region.
• Color assimilation: A color perception effect in which two
colors bleed into each other, each taking on some of the
chromatic quality of the other.
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Figure 5.22 Color contrast
Figure 5.23 Color assimilation
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• Unrelated color: A color that can be experienced in

isolation.
• Related color: A color, such as brown or gray, which is
seen only in relation to other colors.
o A “gray” patch in complete darkness appears white.

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Afterimages: A visual image seen after a stimulus has been

removed.
Negative afterimage: An afterimage whose polarity is the
opposite of the original stimulus.
• Light stimuli produce dark negative afterimages.
• Colors are complementary. Red produces green
afterimages and blue produces yellow afterimages (and
vice versa).
• This is a way to see opponent colors in action.
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Figure 5.24 Negative afterimages (Part 2)
Figure 5.24 Negative afterimages (Part 1)
Figure 5.24 Negative afterimages (Part 3)
Figure 5.24 Negative afterimages (Part 4)
Figure 5.24 Negative afterimages (Part 5)
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Color constancy: The tendency of a surface to appear the

same color under a fairly wide range of illuminants.
Illuminant: The light that illuminates a surface.
• To achieve color constancy, we must estimate how the
color of the illuminant changes an object’s color on our
retina so that we can determine the true color of the
surface out in the world.

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Figure 5.25 Color constancy
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Physical constraints make constancy possible.

• Intelligent guesses about the illuminant
o Most illuminants are “broadband” and contain many
different wavelengths
• Assumptions about surfaces
o Most surfaces are “broadband” and reflect many
different wavelengths
• How does the illuminant interact with the surface?

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Figure 5.6 Real world reflectance functions
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“The Dress”
• Caused controversy because people couldn’t agree on
the colors of the dress
o Black & Blue or White & Gold?
• People perceived the dress differently, depending on
their assumptions about the color of the illuminant
o Assume yellow illuminant = Black & Blue
o Assume blue illuminant = White & Gold

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Figure 5.26 What color is this dress?
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Animals provide insight into color perception in humans

• Food
o Itis easier to find berries and determine when they
are ripe with color vision.
o The perceived flavor of food can be affected by its
color.
o White wine dyed to look rosé tastes more like real
rosé wine than white wine.

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Figure 5.28 Using color vision
Figure 5.29 Color and flavor
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• Sex
o Flower colors are advertisements for bees to trade
food for sex (for pollination).
o Colorful
patterns on tropical fish and birds provide
sexual signals.

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Figure 5.30 Color and sex
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Many animals have different color vision systems than

humans
• Dogs are dichromats (similar to deuteranopes)
• Chickens are tetrachromats
• Mantis shrimp have 12 types of cones
• The silver spinyfin fish lives in the deep sea and has
two cone types and 38 rod types!

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Figure 5.31 Extreme color vision
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Humans and other mammals have color vision due to the

different photopigments in our cones.
Other animals have evolved a different system for color
vision.
• Birds and some reptiles have colored oils over each
photoreceptor, which tunes them to different
wavelengths.

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Figure 5.32 Two ways to make photoreceptors with different spectral sensitivities (Part 1)
Figure 5.32 Two ways to make photoreceptors with different spectral sensitivities (Part 2)
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How well can you direct your attention to one color?

• Can people direct their attention to a specific color of
green?
o When the dots vary in hue, people are accurate.
o When the dots vary in saturation, people are not very
accurate.
• Conclusion: Attention can select a group of items based
on hue, not saturation.

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Figure 5.33 The Sun et al. attention filter experiment