Dynamics of Asymmetric Color Matching

Abstract

It is known that the human color constancy is not complete. We conducted asymmetric color matching experiments to clarify a simple question: what was it that the observer matched. Observers made apparent-color matches between Munsell color chips under D65 illumination and a color chip presented on a CRT. The observers’ matches showed incomplete color constancy. We applied relative cone-weight transformation to each observer’s results under control condition, so as to equate the unique-white point for each illuminant condition. The result of this simple transformation showed good match to the actual data. Our results suggest what the observer was doing during the asymmetric color matches was picking up apparent-color signal, achieved from the test color chip under D65, and reconstructing it with respect to the unique-white by a simple cone response scaling.