Color Models

Color models,cont’d
Different meanings of color:
• painting
• wavelength of visible light
• human eye perception
 Physical properties of light
Visible light is part of the electromagnetic radiation (380-
750 nm)
1 nm (nanometer) = 10-10 m (=10-7 cm)
1 Å (angstrom) = 10 nm
Radiation can be expressed in wavelength () or
frequency (f), c=f, where c=3.1010 cm/sec
 Physical properties of light
White light consists of
a spectrum of all V

visible colors I
B
G
Y
O
R
 Physical properties of light
All kinds of light can
be described by the
energy of each
wavelength
The distribution
showing the relation
between energy and
wavelength (or
frequency) is called
energy spectrum
 Physical properties of light
This distribution may indicate:
1) a dominant wavelength (or frequency)
which is the color of the light (hue), ED
2) brightness (luminance), intensity of the light
(value), the area A
3) purity (saturation), ED – EW
Contributions from other frequencies
produce white light of energy density Ew
 Physical properties of light
Energy spectrum for a light source with a
dominant frequency near the red color
 Material properties
The color of an object depends on the so
called spectral curves for transparency
and reflection of the material
The spectral curves describe how light of
different wavelengths are refracted and
reflected
 Properties of reflected light
Incident white light upon an object is for
some wavelengths absorbed, for others
reflected
E.g. if all light is absorbed => black
If all wavelengths but one are absorbed
=> the one color is observed as the
color of the object by the reflection
 Color definitions
Complementary colors - two colors
combine to produce white light
Primary colors - (two or) three colors used
for describing other colors
Two main principles for mixing colors:
• additive mixing
• subtractive mixing
 Additive mixing
• pure colors are put close to each other => a mix on
the retina of the human eye (cp. RGB)
• overlapping gives yellow, cyan, magenta and white
• the typical technique on color displays
 Subtractive mixing
• color pigments are mixed directly in some liquid, e.g.
ink
• each color in the mixture absorbs its specific part of
the incident light
• the color of the mixture is determined by subtraction
of colored light, e.g. yellow absorbs blue => only red
and green, i.e. yellow, will reach the eye (yellow
because of addition)
 Subtractive mixing,cont’d
• primary colors: cyan, magenta and
yellow, i.e. CMY
• the typical technique in printers/plotters
• connection between additive and
subtractive primary colors (cp. the color
models RGB and CMY)
Additive/subtractive mixing
 Human color seeing
The retina of the human eye consists of cones
(7-8M),”tappar”, and rods (100-120M),
”stavar”, which are connected with nerve
fibres to the brain
 Human color seeing,cont’d
Theory: the cones consist of various light
absorbing material
The light sensitivity of the cones and rods varies
with the wavelength, and between persons
The ”sum” of
• the energy spectrum of the light
• the reflection spectrum of the object
• the response spectrum of the eye
decides the color perception for a person
 Overview of color models
The human eye can perceive about 382000(!)
different colors
Necessary with some kind of classification sys-
tem; all using three coordinates as a basis:
1) CIE(commission Internationale de l’Ḗclairage)
standard
2) RGB color model
3) CMY color model (also, CMYK)
4) HSV color model
5) HLS color model
 CIE standard
Commission
Internationale de
L’Eclairage (1931)
• not a computer
model
• each color = a
weighted sum of
three imaginary
primary colors
 XYZ color space
• The CIE XYZ color space was • Since the human eye has three
derived from a series of types of color sensors that respond
experiments done in the late to different ranges of wavelengths,
a full plot of all visible colors is a
1920s by W. David Wright and
three-dimensional figure. However,
John Guild. Their experimental the concept of color can be divided
results were combined into the into two parts: brightness and
specification of the CIE RGB chromaticity. For example, the
color space, from which the color white is a bright color, while
CIE XYZ color space was the color grey is considered to be a
derived. less bright version of that same
white. In other words, the
chromaticity of white and grey are
the same while their brightness
differs.
• The CIE XYZ color space was deliberately designed so that the Y
parameter was a measure of the brightness or luminance of a color. The
chromaticity of a color was then specified by the two derived parameters x
and y, two of the three normalized values which are functions of all three
tristimulus values X, Y, and Z.
• Thus color cλ = Xx+Yy+Zz, where x,y,z represent vectors in 3D additive
color space and X, Y, Z designate the amounts of the standard primaries
needed to match cλ.
• It is convenient to normalize the amounts against luminance (X+Y+Z).

Any color can now be represented with the x and y amounts. Since normalization is done
against luminance, parameters x & y are called chromaticity values because they depend
on only hue and purity.
 CIE standard
When x and y is plotted
in the visible
spectrum we obtain
the CIE chromaticity
diagram.
Labelled according to
wavelength in
nanometers from red
end to violet end of
spectrum.
 RGB model
• Our eyes perceive color through stimulation of visual pigments in the
cones of retina.
• These visual pigments have a peak sensitivity at wavelengths of about
630nm (red), 530nm (green)and 450nm (blue).
• By comparing intensities in a light source, we perceive the color of
light.
• This theory of vision is the basis of displaying color on a monitor and is
known as thre RGB color model.
 RGB model
• all colors are
generated from the
three primaries
• various colors are
obtained by
changing the
amount of each
primary
• additive mixing
(r,g,b), 0≤r,g,b≤1
 RGB model,cont’d
• the RGB cube
• 1 bit/primary => 8 colors, 8 bits/primary => 16M colors
 CMY model
• cyan, magenta and
yellow are comple-
mentary colors of
red,green and blue,
respectively
• subtractive mixing
• the typical printer
technique
 CMY model,cont’d
• almost the same
cube as with RGB;
only black<-> white
• the various colors
are obtained by
reducing light, e.g. if
red is absorbed =>
green and blue are
added, i.e cyan
 RGB vs CMY
If the intensities are represented as 0≤r,g,b≤1
and 0≤c,m,y≤1 (also coordinates 0-255 can
be used), then the relation between RGB and
CMY can be described as:

 c   1  r
 m  1   g
     
y 1 b
 CMYK model
For printing and graphics art industry,
CMY is not enough; a fourth primary, K
which stands for black, is added.
Conversions between RGB and CMYK
are possible, although they require
some extra processing.
 HSV model
• HSV stands for Hue-Saturation-Value
• described by a hexcone derived from the
RGB cube
 HSV model,cont’d
• Hue (0-360°); ”the
color”, cp. the
dominant wave-
length (128)
• Saturation (0-1);
”the amount of
white” (130)
• Value (0-1); ”the
amount of black”
(23)
 HSV model,cont’d
The numbers given after each ”primary” are
estimates of how many levels a human being
is capable to distinguish between, which (in
theory) gives the total number of color
nuances:
128*130*23 = 382720
In Computer Graphics, usually enough with:
128*8*15 = 16384
 HLS model
Another model similar
to HSV
L stands for Lightness
 RGB to HSI Conversion
• First, we convert RGB color space image to HSI space
beginning with normalizing RGB values:

• Each normalized H, S and I components are then obtained

by,
• For convenience, h, s and i values are converted in the
ranges of [0,360], [0,100], [0, 255], respectively , by:
 HSI to RGB Conversion

The result r, g and b are normalized values, which are in the

ranges of [0,1], therefore, they should be multiplied by 255 for
displaying.
 Color models
Some more facts about colors:
The distance between two colors in the
color cube is not a measure of how far
apart the colors are perceptionally!
Humans are more sensitive to shifts in
blue (and green?) than, for instance, in
yellow