COLOUR PERCEPTION

Colour Perception

COLOUR PERCEPTION
Eyes can’t see alone. Our eyes and brain have to work together to make a sense of
light and colour. Light goes through the pupil and splashes on the rods and cones of
the retina. There, the light causes a chemical reaction. The optic nerve connects eyes
to the brain. It understands the chemical reaction and carries a message to the brain.
There the colour perception takes place.67

EYES: The initial process occurs in the retina of the eye. The retina contains millions
of cells called photoreceptors that are sensitive to light. There are two types of
photoreceptors, some shaped like rods and some like cones. These photoreceptors
process light into nerve impulses and pass them along to the cortex of the brain via the
optic nerve. 120 million RODS in the outer edges of the retina help eyes adjust when
one enters a dark room. They are good for detecting motion and for seeing in low
light-levels. At low light levels, the rods of the human eye are more dominant than the
cones and colour perception is lost. As the brightness becomes more intense, colour
appears to change (BEZOLD-BRUCKE EFFECT). There are 6 million CONES in
each eyeball which are sensitive to colour. There are three types of cone cells, each
sensitive to the long, medium or short wavelength of light (red, blue and green colour
respectively).67

BRIGHTNESS PROCESSING IN VISUAL CORTEX

Luminance is a photometric quantity that represents the amount of light emitted by a
surface. Brightness, on the other hand, is the apparent level of light emitted by a
surface and depends not only on the actual luminance but also on the context in which
the surface is viewed.

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Cones and rod cells in eye

Colour perception occur in brain

COLOUR ADAPTATION. Colour vision decreases rapidly as an object is observed.

The original colour appears to become less and less saturated until it appears almost
gray. Simultaneously, the chroma (intensity) of complementary colours appears
greater. This phenomenon explains the suggestion that shade selection can be
enhanced if operatory walls are painted pale blue (complementary to yellow) or that a
pale gray-blue surface should be glanced at periodically while viewing colour choices.

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DECEPTIVE COLOUR PERCEPTION. The brain can be tricked in how it

perceives colour. The classic example is the Benhamdisk. When this black and white
disk is illuminated and rotated at an appropriate speed, it appears to be highly
coloured. Colour is also influenced by surrounding colours, particularly
complementary ones. For example, when blue and yellow are placed side by side,
their chroma may appear to be increased. The colour of teeth can also look different if
the patient is wearing brightly coloured clothing or lipstick.

COLOUR BLINDNESS. Defects in colour vision affect about 8% of the male

population and less of the female population. Different types exist, such as
achromatism (complete lack of hue sensitivity), dichromatism (sensitivity to only two
primary hues-usually either red or green are not perceived), and anomalous
trichromatism (sensitivity to all three hues with deficiency or abnormality of one of
the three primary pigments in the retinal cones). Dentists should therefore have their
colour perception tested. If any deficiency is detected, the dentist should seek
assistance when selecting tooth shades. 80

COLOUR VISION THEORIES: 2

A variety of colour vision theories have been proposed since the mid-
eighteenth century. In 1802 Young proposed that there were three types of photo
receptors in the eye and that these were associated with three colours red, blue, and
yellow (later that year, Young modified his choice of principle, or primary, colours to
red, green and violet). This proposal received support through subsequent colour
matching experiments by Grassman (1853) and Maxwell (1855, 1860). Von
Helmholtz (1852, 1866) developed Young’s theory into what is now termed as
Young-Helmholtz-Maxwell Trichromatic theory of colour vision.

This theory is based on the fundamental property of colour vision, namely

trichromacy, which is ability to match any colour using an appropriate mixture of
three selected (primary) wavelengths.

In 1878, Hering proposed an Opponent Colour theory according to which, any colour
can be described in terms of its redness or greenness and yellowness or blueness. As
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red and green cannot be perceived simultaneously, they are opponent hues. Herring
considered that the eye contains two chromatic channels (one for red versus green and
one for yellow versus blue) as well as an achromatic channel to account for white
versus black.

However, neither the Young-Helmholtz-Maxwell Trichromatic theory nor the

Opponent Colour theories can account for all colour vision phenomenon. In 1959,
Land proposed the Retinex theory in which all colours can be generated by comparing
lightness through the three cone receptors channels.

None of these three (major) theories provide an adequate explanation of

human vision. Modern thinking has involved the combination of the trichromatic and
opponent theories in the form of so-called Zone theories of colour vision, which
propose that trichromacy, and opponency can occur within different regions of the
retina. Clearly, human vision has not yet been completely explained.

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