Color Measurement

&
Communication

By :- Leykun F. 1
 CHAPTER ONE
Fundamentals of Colour Science

By :- Leykun F.
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At the end of this chapter the students able to know
color and significance of colour
Properties of light waves
interaction of light and matter (how colour is produced)
how we perceive colour
color mixing principles

By :- Leykun F.
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Lesson 1:-Basics Of Colour

At the end of this lesson the students able to

Define colour
Discuss about significance of colour
Understand the nature of colour

By :- Leykun F.
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1.1.1 What is colour

 Colour is the sensation of light or physical stimulus.

 Colour exists only in the mind; it is a perceptual response to light that enters the eye
either directly from self-luminous light sources or, indirectly, from light reflected by
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illuminated objects. By :- Leykun F.
 To chemist: it is a chemical
compound (dye or pigment)

To physicist: it is a scattering and

absorption of light or reflectance
spectra of an object

To artists and others it is the means to

create sensation to the mind, for example
red and yellow treats the sustentation of
warmness and green and blue associated
with feeelingness of coolness.
By :- Leykun F. 6
Modern theory of colour

Colour is a physiological sensation associated with the wavelength

of light striking the retina of the eye. The sensation of colour is
produced when light having a wavelength within the visible region
of electromagnetic spectrum strikes the retina of the eye.

By :- Leykun F.
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SIGNIFICANCE OF COLORS
Environmental, Productive
Cool,
Supernatural

EVERY COLOR
HAS A MEANING!

Pure

Hot, Dangerous!
By :- Leykun F. 8
1.1.2 Nature Of Colour
Light is a form of energy.
Radio waves and X-rays, as well as ultraviolet and infrared radiation, are all part of the
spectrum of electromagnetic radiation
 but the human visual system is only capable of sensing a very narrow band of
wavelengths in the approximate range 360–780 nm (a nanometer is 10-9 metres).

By :- Leykun F.
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 …Cont...
 However, Newton was famously aware that ‘the rays are not coloured’.
 By this phrase Newton meant that light is not intrinsically coloured; short-wave light, for
example, has no intrinsic property by which it is blue but, rather, it may induce in us the
sensation of blueness.
 Under some circumstances, however, short-wave light may appear black or some colour other
than blue.
 It is therefore clear that colour cannot be understood without a study of the properties of
the human visual system, since colour exists only in the brain.

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Lesson 2 :-elements which influences perception of colour
At the end of this lesson the students able to
Discuss Light Source influences on perception of colour
identify nature of Object influences on perception of colour
explain Observer influences on perception of colour

By :- Leykun F.
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 What influences the
perception of color?

1. light source
2. object being viewed
3. observer (person)

Observer Situation

Color Perception

By :- Leykun F.
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1.2.1 Source of Light
Light is a form of energy and propagates in the form of electromagnetic
waves(EMW).

Wavelength, is an important characteristics of EMW it varies from fraction

of nanometre (nm) ( 1nm= 10 -7cms ) to kilometers.

The characteristics of EMW changes with wavelengths, due to this reason

they are identified by different names:

 Gamma rays, X-rays, ultraviolet rays, visible rays, microwave rays, and
radio-wave rays

By :- Leykun F.
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 …Cont...
• Electromagnetic radiation is characterized by its
• wavelength, , Frequency,  and energy, E:

• E = h= hc /  c =  

• Where h = Planck’s constant & c = speed of light in a

vacuum

(a) longer wavelength, lower energy;

(b) shorter wavelength, higher energy
By :- Leykun F. 14
 …Cont…

A triangular prism dispersing a beam of

white light. The longer wavelengths (red)
and the shorter wavelengths (blue) get
separated.
By :- Leykun F.
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 …Cont…
When white light falls on a substance:
If the light totally reflected – The substance appears
White.
 If the light totally Absorbed- The substance appears black.
If certain Portion of the light is absorbed and the rest is
reflected-The substance has colour of reflected light.
If only single band is absorbed-The substance has the
complementary colour of the absorbed band.

By :- Leykun F.
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Coloured absorbed Visible (Complementary)
Violet Yellow-Green
Blue Yellow
Green-Blue Orange
Blue-Green Red
Green Purple
Yellow-green Violet
Yellow Blue
Orange Green-Blue
Red Blue=Green 17
 …Cont…
Source of light is characterized by the relative power
distribution at different wavelengths.
Light sources may be :
• Incandescent lamp;
• Arc lamp;
• Fluorescent lamp.
An illuminant is a plot ,or table of relative energy versus
wavelength that that represents the spectral characteristics
of different types of light source.

By :- Leykun F.
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 …Cont…

By :- Leykun F.
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 Common Light Sources

Daylight D65 TL 84 Fluorescent

Illuminant A (Incandescent)
Cool White Fluorescent By :- Leykun F. 20
Light Source - Variation

Light source SPD Curves

 …Cont…

The perceptual description of color depends on:

• Spectral power distribution of the source;
• Energy reflected by the object at different wavelengths
and;
• Spectral sensitivity of the eye.

Therefore, the change of spectral power distribution of

illuminating beam will also change the perceptual description of the
color of the object.

By :- Leykun F.
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 …Cont…

Color change of the object under different

sources
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1.2.2 Object
The illuminating radiations of the source are modified by the object
through physical processes such as:
• Transmission;
• Reflection;
• Absorbency and;
• Scattering.

The relative proportion of these processes depend on the

characteristics of the material.
The type of reflection from object depends on the nature of the
surfaces mainly classified as polished and matte surfaces.

By :- Leykun F.
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 …Cont…
Objects are characterized by the amount of light they emit and reflect
or transmit at each wavelength of interest
All these characteristics contribute to the observed color
• Specular (regular) reflectance = mirror like reflectance
• Diffuse reflectance = reflectance in all directions
• Gloss = combination of specular and diffuse reflectance

By :- Leykun F.
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 …Cont…
The reflection from polished(Mirror like) is called as specular
reflection- it depends on angle of incident and refractive index of the
material of the object with respective to its surroundings.

The specularly reflected radiations do not carry information about

the color of the object.
• E.g. Ceramic black tile seen by specularly reflected radiations will appear white
and bright.
In case of matte or non-glossy surfaces the reflected radiations
originate due to scattering and absorption of incident light by the
colorants in the object- gives rise to diffuse radiations.
The diffuse radiations carry the information about the
color of the object.

By :- Leykun F.
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 …Cont…
The object we deal in textile, leather and paper industries
diffusely reflect the incident light
Therefore, for true assessment of the specular components of
reflected light ,which gives rise to glossy should be excluded.

Specular and diffuse reflection from a

pigmented specimen
By :- Leykun F.
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 …Cont…
The locations peak in spectral reflectance curve determines the hue of
the object.
The spectral reflection of curves of achromatic (white, black & gray
colors) and chromatic objects.
The object exhibits absorption peak at definite wavelength depending
upon its color.
The spectral reflectance curves of achromatic objects do not exhibit
any peak.

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 …Cont…

spectral reflectance's of chromatic and achromatic objects

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 …Cont…
The reflectance of curves of the red color objects with
increase in concentration from S1, S2 to S3

In scattering process light travels in many directions other than incident

directions
By :- Leykun F.
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 …Cont…
The amount of light scattered depends on relative refractive index and
particle size of colorants

 Light scattering by particles also depends on difference in refractive indices of

the colorant and the surroundings( i.e. liquid in which colorant are dispersed).

 If their refractive indices are identical no light will be scattered

By :- Leykun F.
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1.2.3 Observer
The common detector of light and color is eye, nerve system and brain.

The function of the eye is to impart to an observer information about

surrounding world.

The sensation of color and vision is a function of physical quality of light,

physiological process in retina and brain and psychological interpretation
of physiological process by the brain.

All these operations are carried out at lightening speed and sensation of
vision is experienced almost instantly.

By :- Leykun F.
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 …Cont…
The main features of the human eye

By :- Leykun F.
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Lesson 3 :- perception of colour

At the end of this lesson the students able to

Discuss about humans eyes color sensation mechanism
Differentiate types of receptors in the retina

By :- Leykun F.
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1.3.1 Color Perception
To humans, color sensation is a matter of subjective perception resulting
from the effect of light on the cones of the eyes. There are three types of
cone receptors in the retina, each one with a particular sensitivity to
different wavelengths.

Red Sensitive Cones

Green Sensitive Cones
Blue Sensitive Cones

By :- Leykun F.
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 …Cont…
Rods
• Scotopic (gray scale) vision, interpret brightness
• Interpret brightness, not color
• Highest concentration on
peripheral retina

Cones
• Photopic (color) vision
• Interpret color
• More active under high light
• Highest concentration on central retina (macula), most color
perceptive area of eye

By :- Leykun F.
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Color and Vision

• We can think of different

colors of light like balls with
different kinetic energies.
• Blue light has a higher energy
than green light, like the balls
that make it into the top
window.
• Red light has the lowest
energy, like the balls that can
only make it to the lowest
window.
By :- Leykun F.
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 …Cont…
The cones are situated in fovea region only.
There are 7 millions of cones in the eye, mostly tightly packed
in fovea.
There are three types of cones characterised by their
spectral sensitivity curves, known as blue, green and red
sensitive cones- often they are referred as long, medium and
short wavelength cones.
The regions behind and in front of lens are filled with
transparent media known as vitreous and aqueous humor
respectively.
The light collected by eye lens is focused on retina.

By :- Leykun F.
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 …Cont…
Over the retina surface, there are nerve endings called as rods and
cones from their shape - contain photosensitive materials.
The rods detect the light but have no ability to specify the color. Color is
detected by cones.
There on average 130 millions of rods in retina.
There is a small pit at the centre of retina called as fovea located on
the visual axis of the eye and has a diameter of 1mm.

= The short wavelength cones record from violet to blue,

= medium wavelength cones record from green to yellow and
= long wavelength cones record from yellow to red colors.

By :- Leykun F.
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 …Cont…
The sensation of color depends on the degree of stimulation of the cones
by light.
If either of cones are absent or defective ,it results into defective color
vision.
The eye is not equally sensitive over entire visible spectrum- for eye the
brightest part of the spectrum is at wavelength of 550 nm i.e. Yellow-
green regions.

By :- Leykun F.
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 …Cont…
Cones require higher level of illumination as compared to rods.

At low light , the shape of the object can be distinguished - it is said to be
scotopic vision.

When the color can be just detected (and rods have yet not flooded) -it is said
to be mesopic vision.

At high light level when rods & cones are sufficiently stimulated - it is said to
be photopic vision.

The rods and cones are connected to fibres of the optic nerve by which the
signal is transmitted to brain.
By :- Leykun F.
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By :- Leykun F.
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1.3.2 Mechanism of color vision
The rods are distributed over the entire surface of retina and cones
are concentrated in a region of fovea.

When the rods and cones are exposed to light ; the photochemical r/n is
initiated and electrical impulse is generated.

The photosensitive material in light sensitive cells decomposes and

regenerate continuously and almost instantly.

Often the exposure to intense light produces fatigue and it takes

appreciable time to generate- this is the reason why a person become
momentary blind when he looks at dazing light.

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 …Cont…
The color perceived by a person depends on degree of stimulation of the
three types of cones.

If red, green and blue cones are equally stimulated the sensation of gray
to white created.

If blue and red cones are simultaneously excited the sensation of purple
is created.

The impression of yellow is created if red and green cones are stimulated
at the same time.

Thus the resulting sensation of color is determined by laws of additive

color mixing and degree of stimulation of the cones.
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How the human eye sees color
• The retina in the back
of the eye contains
photoreceptors.
• These receptors release
chemical signals.
• Chemical signals
travel to the brain
along the optic nerve.

opticBynerve
:- Leykun F. 45
Photoreceptors in the eye

By :- Leykun F.
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How we see colors
• Which chemical
signal gets sent
depends on how
much energy the
light has.
• If the brain gets a
signal from ONLY
green cones, we see
green.

By :- Leykun F.
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 How we see the color of things
When we see an object, the
light that reaches our eyes
can come from two
different processes:
1. The light can be emitted
directly from the object,
like a light bulb or glow
stick.
2. The light can come from
somewhere else, like the
sun, and we see the
objects by reflected light.

By :- Leykun F.
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 ...cont...
The electrical signal, generated due to photochemical rxn in rods and cones
is probably amplified within the receptors before it is passed to bipolar and
ganglion cells.
At some point in ganglion layer the electrical signal is converted into nerve
impulse which is transmitted to brain through the fibers of optic nerve.

This generation of electrical signal and nerve impulse is a physiological

process.
The electrical impulse set in rods and cones are programmed and sorted out
somewhere on the way to brain.
The exact mechanism of coding is not known, but some form of message is
conveyed to brain by optic nerve.

By :- Leykun F.
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 ...cont...
The message from rods convey about light(i.e. Shape, movement of
object, etc.), while the message from the cones tell about the color of
the object under observation.

The message are decoded and coupled with memories stored in the brain
and the final consciousness of color and vision is experienced.

This process of interpretation of signal and retrieving information

from the nerve impulse in brain is a psychological process.

Thus process of color and color vision initiated by physical stimulus

process through physiological process and finally ends with psychological
process.

By :- Leykun F.
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Lesson 4 :- Colour Mixing Laws
At the end of this lesson the students able to
• explain about additive and subtractive color mixing law
• Identify Methods of color mixing
• Discuss about importance and application color mixing law
• Understand complex subtractive color mixing theory

By :- Leykun F.
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1.4. Colour Mixing Laws

There are two types of color mixing laws:

• additive color mixing law and

• subtractive color mixing law

Additive color mixing was first carried out by Newton, 1730 using
collared light.

Subtractive color was first recognized by Htlmholtz 1852.

In industrial applications like, textiles, paint, paper and plastic the
desired color are produced by mixing two or more colorants.

By :- Leykun F.
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1.4.1 Additive Color Mixing

Additive color mixing occurs when two or more lights are added
by focusing them on a white screen.
Red, Blue and Green are used as primaries for to produce various
colors by additive mixing.

The primary colors are independent- that the mixture of the two
colors will not produce the third primary color.
• Red + Green = yellow
• Green + Blue = cyan( blue-green)
• Blue Red = purple (magenta)
• Red + Green + Blue = White

By :- Leykun F.
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 ...cont...
These are the color obtained by emitted light
Associated with television and computer displays

By :- Leykun F.
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Fig. 1.14 schematic diagram of additive
color mixing By :- Leykun F.
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 ...cont...
Methods of color mixing :

(1) two or more lights are projected on the screen successively and rapidly
(2) Maxwell method- achieved by rotating color papers which cut precisely
into pieces of various sizes and mounted as segments on circular disk- then
additive color effect can be seen in proportion to the sizes of each
segment.

By :- Leykun F.
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1.4.2 Subtractive Colour Mixing

Subtractive mixing of colors occurs when one or more spectral

components are removed from the incident light.

The removal of part of incident energy can occur by the process of

absorption and scattering .

When the subtraction is made by absorption only ,it is called simple

subtractive mixing.

When the light is removed by scattering and absorption , it is called

complex subtractive mixing.

By :- Leykun F.
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 ...cont...

The color of transparent materials like solutions and glass occur due to simple subtraction
of light energy by absorption.

Yellow, Magenta and Cyan are the most commonly used primaries in subtractive color
mixing.

The subtractive primaries are obtained by removing Blue, Green and Red lights from white
light.
• White - Blue = Yellow

• White _ Green = Magenta

• White - Red = Cyan

This can be achieved by using broad band filters known as substractive primary filters

By :- Leykun F.
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Absorption of light by single subtractive color filters

By :- Leykun F. 59
 A colored filter subtracts colors
by absorption.

Incident white light Cyan Yellow Only green

filter subtracts filter subtracts gets
red blue through

By :- Leykun F.
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A colored filter subtracts certain colors
by absorption and transmits the rest

Incident white light Magenta Cyan Only blue

filter subtracts filter subtracts gets
green red through

By :- Leykun F.
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 A colored filter subtracts colors
by absorption.

Incident white light Magenta Yellow Only red

filter subtracts filter subtracts gets
green blue through

By :- Leykun F.
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• When two subtractive filters are combined ,the primaries for additive color mixing
results as shown in Figure 1.16.

• The addition of subtractive primaries will produce the additive color mixing
primaries of Red, Green and Blue.
• Yellow + Cyan = Green
• Cyan + magenta = Blue

• Magenta + yellow = Red

• Yellow + Magenta + Cyan = Black

By :- Leykun F.
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absorption of light by pairs of subtractive color filters

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By :- Leykun F.
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1.4.3 complex subtractive color mixing theory

• The production of resultant colors in subtractive color mixing can be made

using Beer's law.
• According to this law the absorption of light by specimen is resulted by
equation:

log 1/T = abc =A

Where; T= transmission
a = absorptivity of the material
b = path length
c = concentration

Note : the law applied at single wavelength only

By :- Leykun F.
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 ...cont...

For a given material the absorbance, A proportional to concentration.

For mixture of colorants the total absorbance is equal to the absorbance of

individual component:
A = A1 +A2 + A3 + ....

The primaries of additive and subtractive color mixing can be represented

by the hue circle as shown in Figure 1.18.

The results of additive and subtractive primaries mixing can be best

remembered by realizing that the pairs of additive primaries generate the
subtractive primaries and the pairs of subtractive primaries generate the
additive primaries.

By :- Leykun F.
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 ...cont...

• When light energy is removed by absorption and scattering- it is called complex

subtractive color mixing (Billmeyer & Saltzman, 1981).

• Complex subtractive color mixing involves the simultaneous absorption and

scattering of light.

• For technological application the most widely used approximate equation for
complex subtractive color mixing is given by Kubelica and Munk ,1931.

F(R) = K/S = (1-R)2 /2R

By :- Leykun F.
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...continued...
K and S are ; Kubelica and Munk absorption and scattering
coefficients
The function forms the basis for color matching for industrial
products.
 The colors seen of various industrial products like paint, plastic,
textiles ,paper and many other are due to complex subtractive
color mixing.
 For opaque objects, the complex subtractive color mixing give
rise to diffuse reflectance

The diffuse reflectance arising because of complex subtractive

color mixing is not proportional to concentration of colorants ,
but some function of reflectance factor (R) is proportional to
concentration.
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