Munsell color system

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

The Munsell color system, showing: a circle of hues at value 5 chroma 6; the neutral values from
0 to 10; and the chromas of purple-blue (5PB) at value 5.
In colorimetry, the Munsell color system is a color space that specifies colors based on three
color dimensions: hue, value (lightness), and chroma (color purity). It was created by Professor
Albert H. Munsell in the first decade of the 20th century and adopted by the USDA as the
official color system for soil research in the 1930s.
Several earlier color order systems had placed colors into a three dimensional color solid of one
form or another, but Munsell was the first to separate hue, value, and chroma into perceptually
uniform and independent dimensions, and was the first to systematically illustrate the colors in
three dimensional space.[1] Munsell’s system, and particularly the later renotations, is based on
rigorous measurements of human subjects’ visual responses to color, putting it on a firm
experimental scientific basis. Because of this basis in human visual perception, Munsell’s system
has outlasted its contemporary color models, and though it has been superseded for some uses by
models such as CIELAB (L*a*b*) and CIECAM02, it is still in wide use today. [2]

Contents
[hide]
• 1 Explanation
○ 1.1 Hue
○ 1.2 Value
 ○ 1.3 Chroma
○ 1.4 Specifying a color
• 2 History and influence
• 3 Notes
• 4 Bibliography
• 5 External links

[edit] Explanation

Munsell’s color sphere, 1900. Later, Munsell discovered that if hue, value, and chroma were to
be kept perceptually uniform, achievable surface colors could not be forced into a spherical
shape.
The system consists of three independent dimensions which can be represented cylindrically in
three dimensions as an irregular color solid: hue, measured by degrees around horizontal circles;
chroma, measured radially outward from the neutral (gray) vertical axis; and value, measured
vertically from 0 (black) to 10 (white). Munsell determined the spacing of colors along these
dimensions by taking measurements of human visual responses. In each dimension, Munsell
colors are as close to perceptually uniform as he could make them, which makes the resulting
shape quite irregular. As Munsell explains:
Desire to fit a chosen contour, such as the pyramid, cone, cylinder or cube, coupled with a lack
of proper tests, has led to many distorted statements of color relations, and it becomes evident,
when physical measurement of pigment values and chromas is studied, that no regular contour
will serve.
—Albert H. Munsell, “A Pigment Color System and Notation”[3]
[edit] Hue
Each horizontal circle Munsell divided into five principal hues: Red, Yellow, Green, Blue, and
Purple, along with 5 intermediate hues halfway between adjacent principal hues.[4] Each of these
10 steps is then broken into 10 sub-steps, so that 100 hues are given integer values. Two colors
of equal value and chroma, on opposite sides of a hue circle, are complementary colors, and mix
additively to the neutral gray of the same value. The diagram below shows 40 evenly-spaced
Munsell hues, with complements vertically aligned.

Munsell hues; value 6 / chroma 6

5R 5YR 5Y 5GY 5G 5BG

| | | | | |

130
201
134 130
201
127 131
201
118 133
200
109 135
197
100 193
137
94 187
140
86 181
143
79 173
146
75 167
149
72 160
151
73 151
154
78 141
156
85 127
159
98 160
115
110 162
101
124 163
92
134 163
87
141 163
82
148 163
78
154 163
73
162

5BG 5B 5PB 5P 5RP 5R

| | | | | |

163
73
162 162
70
170 161
70
177 160
73
184 158
82
189 156
93
193 154
104
195 151
117
197 149
128
198 145
141
198 142
152
196 140
160
193 138
168
189 135
177
182 134
183
176 132
188
169 131
193
160 130
196
153 130
198
146 130
200
140 130
201
134

[edit] Value
Value, or lightness, varies vertically along the color solid, from black (value 0) at the bottom, to
white (value 10) at the top.[5] Neutral grays lie along the vertical axis between black and white.
Several color solids before Munsell’s plotted luminosity from black on the bottom to white on
the top, with a gray gradient between them, but these systems neglected to keep perceptual
lightness constant across horizontal slices. Instead, they plotted fully-saturated yellow (light),
and fully saturated blue and purple (dark) along the equator.
[edit] Chroma
Chroma, measured radially from the center of each slice, represents the “purity” of a color, with
lower chroma being less pure (more washed out, as in pastels).[6] Note that there is no intrinsic
upper limit to chroma. Different areas of the color space have different maximal chroma
coordinates. For instance light yellow colors have considerably more potential chroma than light
purples, due to the nature of the eye and the physics of color stimuli. This led to a wide range of
possible chroma levels—up to the high 30s for some hue–value combinations (though it is
difficult or impossible to make physical objects in colors of such high chromas, and they cannot
be reproduced on current computer displays). Vivid soil colors are in the range of approximately
8.
 Note
Munsell value (vertical) and chroma (horizontal); hue 5Y and 5PB that
the
Munse
1 1 1 1 ll
8 6 4 2 0 2 4 6 8 Book
2 0 0 2
of
Color
1 contai
0
2
5 ns
more
color
sample
9 2
8
0
5 2
3 2
3
4
7
0 2
0
5
1
7
8
s than
this
chart
8 1
0
9
2
3 2
0 2
3
0 2
5
1
0
8 2
1
0
4
5 2
7
0
1
6 2
1
3
9
7 2
1
7
9
3
6 for
both
5PB
7 1
2
4
7
6 1
4
5
7
2 1
4
6
7
2
5
0 1
3
7
4
5
9 1
9
7 1
8
7
3
5 1
4
9
7
3
8
2 2
0
7
1
3 2
0
1
5
7 2
1
0
7
9 and
5Y
(partic
6 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
ularly
9
7
5
1
2
0
4 0
5
2
7 6
4
2
9
3 8
2
4
9 8
3
4
2 6
4
8 0
5 6
4
7
9
2 7
6
4
3
0 1
3
6
4
5
7 7
1
8
6
4
2
bright
yellow
s, up
5 6
4
2
1 7
2
1
3
9 9
8
2
1
3
5 1
0
2
3
7 1
2
6
5 1
0
2
4 1
4
2 1
4
3
2
0 4
1
2
7 1
6
0
2
8
4 5
1
0
9
to 5Y
8.5/14)
,
4 8
3
7
9
1
2 5
7
9
1
8 7
9
4
1 5
8
6
9
3
1
0 3
9
6
1 9
7 0
1
9
8
7
6 1
9
4
5
2 1
9
2
4
5 howev
er they
are not
3 6
2
7
3
1 5
4
2
7
1
0 8
5
2
7
0
1
6 6
7
9
2 7
0 8
7
1
5 8
7
3
0 reprod
ucible
in the
sRGB
2 2
4
0
9
3 3
4
5
7
9 4
6
9 4
8 5
4
7
3
8 6
4
3
7
color
space,
which
1 5PB 1
2
3
5
8
6 2
3
4
8
5 2
8 3
7
2
9 5Y has a
limited
color
0 0 gamut
design
ed to
match
that of
televisi
 ons
and
compu
ter
display
s. Note
also
that
there
are no
sample
s for
values
0 (pure
black)
and 10
(pure
white),
which
are
theoret
ical
limits
not
reacha
ble in
pigme
nt, and
no
printed
sample
s of
value
1.

[edit] Specifying a color

5P 5/10(#9966B6)
5P 5/10
A color is fully specified by listing the three numbers for hue, value, and chroma. For instance, a
fairly saturated purple of medium lightness would be 5P 5/10 with 5P meaning the color in the
middle of the purple hue band, 5/ meaning medium lightness, and a chroma of 10 (see the swatch
to the right).

[edit] History and influence

Runge’s Farbenkugel (Colour Sphere), 1810

Professor Albert H. Munsell

Several editions of the Munsell Book of Color. The atlas is arranged into a removable page of
removable color swatches of varying value and chroma for each of 40 particular hues.
The idea of using a three-dimensional color solid to represent all colors was developed during
the 18th and 19th centuries. Several different shapes for such a solid were proposed, including: a
double triangular pyramid by Tobias Mayer in 1758, a single triangular pyramid by Johann
Heinrich Lambert in 1772, a sphere by Philipp Otto Runge in 1810, a hemisphere by Michel
Eugène Chevreul in 1839, a cone by Hermann von Helmholtz in 1860, a tilted cube by William
Benson in 1868, and a slanted double cone by August Kirschmann in 1895.[7] These systems
became progressively more sophisticated, with Kirschmann’s even recognizing the difference in
value between bright colors of different hues. But all of them remained either purely theoretical
or encountered practical problems in accommodating all colors. Furthermore, none was based on
any rigorous scientific measurement of human vision; before Munsell, the relationship between
hue, value, and chroma was not understood.[7]
Professor Munsell, an artist, wanted to create a “rational way to describe color” that would use
decimal notation instead of color names (which he felt were “foolish” and “misleading”)[8],
which he could use to teach his students about color. He first started work on the system in 1898
and published it in full form in A Color Notation in 1905.
The original embodiment of the system (the 1905 Atlas) had some deficiencies as a physical
representation of the theoretical system. These were improved significantly in the 1929 Munsell
Book of Color and through an extensive series of experiments carried out by the Optical Society
of America in the 1940s resulting in the notations (sample definitions) for the modern Munsell
Book of Color. Though several replacements for the Munsell system have been invented,
building on Munsell’s foundational ideas—including the Optical Society of America’s Uniform
Color Scales, and the International Commission on Illumination’s CIELAB (L*a*b*) and
CIECAM02 color models—the Munsell system is still widely used, by, among others, ANSI to
define skin and hair colors for forensic pathology, the USGS for matching soil colors, in
Prosthodontics during the selection of shades for dental restorations, and breweries for matching
beer colors.[9][10]

[edit] Notes
1. ^ Kuehni (2002), p 21
2. ^ Landa (2005), pp 437–438,
3. ^ Munsell (1912), pp 239
4. ^ Cleland (1921), Ch. 1
5. ^ Cleland (1921), Ch. 2
6. ^ Cleland (1921), Ch. 3
7. ^ a b Kuenhi (2002), pp 20–21
8. ^ (Munsell 1905), ch.1, pg. 7
9. ^ MacEvoy (2005)
10. ^ Landa (2005), pp 442–443. Beer color is measured in Degrees Lovibond, a metric
based on the Munsell system
[edit] Bibliography
The hues of the Munsell color system, at varying values, and maximum chroma to stay in the
sRGB gamut.

Three-dimensional representation of the 1943 Munsell renotations.

• Cleland, Thomas M. (1921). A practical description of the Munsell color system, with
suggestions for its use. Boston: Munsell Color Company. One of the first books about
the Munsell color system, explaining the intuition behind its three dimensions, and
suggesting possible uses of the system in picking color combinations. An edited version
can be found at http://www.applepainter.com/.
• Kuehni, Rolf G. (February 2002). "The early development of the Munsell system". Color
Research and Application 27 (1): 20–27. doi:10.1002/col.10002. A description of color
systems leading up to Munsell’s, and a biographical explanation of Munsell’s changing
ideas about color and development of his color solid, leading up to the publication of A
Color Notation in 1905.
• Landa, Edward R.; Mark D. Fairchild (September-October 2005). "Charting Color from
the Eye of the Beholder" ([dead link]). American Scientist 93 (5): 436–443.
doi:10.1511/2005.5.436.
http://www.americanscientist.org/template/AssetDetail/assetid/45931/page/1;jsessionid=a
aa5LVF0. An introductory explanation of the development and influence of the Munsell
system.
• MacEvoy, Bruce (2005-08-01). "Modern Color Models – Munsell Color System". Color
Vision. http://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/color7.html#MUNSELL. Retrieved 2007-
04-16. A concise introduction to the Munsell color system, on a web page which also
discusses several other color systems, putting the Munsell system in its historical context.
 • Munsell, Albert H. (1905). A Color Notation. Boston: G. H. Ellis Co..
http://books.google.com/?id=PgcCAAAAYAAJ Munsell’s original description of his
system. A Color Notation was published before he had established the irregular shape of
a perceptual color solid, so it describes colors positioned in a sphere.
• Munsell, Albert H. (January 1912). "A Pigment Color System and Notation". The
American Journal of Psychology (University of Illinois Press) 23 (2): 236–244.
doi:10.2307/1412843. http://books.google.com/?id=FdQLAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA236.
Munsell’s description of his color system, from a lecture to the American Psychological
Association.
• Nickerson, Dorothy (1976). "History of the Munsell color system, company, and
foundation". Color Research and Application 1 (1): 7–10.
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/jissue/114188682.
[edit] External links
• Munsell Color Products, from X-Rite, current owners of the Munsell Color Company.
○ Munsell to L*a*b* Conversion Freeware, a Windows application for converting
Munsell renotations to CIELAB coordinates.
• Munsell Color Science Laboratory at the Rochester Institute of Technology, an academic
laboratory dedicated to color science, endowed by the Munsell Foundation.
○ Munsell renotation data in plain text format (from the 1940s Optical Society of
America renotations).
• ApplePainter.com, a site explaining the Munsell color chart, including an edited version
of Cleland’s book, A practical description of the Munsell color system.
• An explanation of the Munsell system at Adobe.com. Retrieved 13 August 2003
• A brief explanation at the site of the Japanese company Dainichiseika Color &
Chemicals, including a nice diagram of the Munsell color solid.
• A flash-based Munsell Palette color-picker from web-design firm Triplecode (based on a
version originally created at the MIT Media Lab).
[hide]
v•d•e
Color space

List of color spaces · Color models

CIE XYZ · L*a*b* · L*u*v* · Yuv · U*V*W*

RGB color spaces · sRGB · Adobe · Wide Gamut · ProPhoto · scRGB

YUV YUV (PAL) · YDbDr (SECAM) · YIQ (NTSC) · YCbCr · YPbPr · xvYCC

Othe LMS · HSL, HSV · CMYK · CcMmYK · Hexachrome · RYB · Munsell · NCS · Pantone ·
r
 RAL
OSA-UCS · Coloroid · RG · Ostwald · DIN · PCCS · ABC · DCA · JIS Z8102 · ISCC-NBS
Imaginary color

See color vision for the vision capacities of organisms or machines.

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munsell_color_system"
Categories: Color space
Hidden categories: All articles with dead external links | Articles with dead external links from
June 2010
Personal tools
• New features
• Log in / create account
Namespaces
• Article
• Discussion
Variants
Views
• Read
• Edit
• View history
Actions
Search
Top of Form
Special:Search

Bottom of Form
Navigation
• Main page
• Contents
• Featured content
• Current events
• Random article
• Donate
Interaction
• About Wikipedia
• Community portal
• Recent changes
 • Contact Wikipedia
• Help
Toolbox
• What links here
• Related changes
• Upload file
• Special pages
• Permanent link
• Cite this page
Print/export
• Create a book
• Download as PDF
• Printable version
Languages
• ‫العربية‬
• Deutsch
• Français
• 한국어
• Italiano
• ‫עברית‬
• 日本語
• Português
• Română
• Русский
• 中文
• This page was last modified on 30 September 2010 at 04:05.
• Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License;
additional terms may apply. See Terms of Use for details.
Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit
organization.
• Contact us
• Privacy policy
• About Wikipedia
• Disclaimers

•
•