Evaluation of the performance of metameric indices

Abstract

Forty three metameric pairs were obtained by comparison, shade-adjustment, and redyeing of 660 self shades dyed with direct, azoic, vat, and reactive dyes. The pairs were regrouped shadewise and ranked visually in increasing order of metamerism. Spearman's rank correlation coefficients were calculated between 11 measures of metamerism and the visual metameric ranking under three illuminants A, D65, and TL84 in pairs. The illuminant-independent general indices included the indices based on reflectance differences (Bridgeman), weighted reflectance differences (Nimeroff and Yurow), Cohen-Kappauf's residual differences (proposed) obtained from the spectral decompositions of the reflectance spectra of the metameric pair. Illuminant-specific special indices included color-differences under test illuminant, addition, subtraction, division, and multiplication of color-differences under test and reference illuminants, indices based on ΔL*, Δa*, Δb* differences under two illuminants, based on chromatic adapted ΔL*, Δa*, Δb* differences with multiplicative corrections for tristimulus differences under reference illuminant (Berns-Billmeyer), differences of the color constancy indices. The present work showed that indices based on ΔL*, Δa*, Δb* differences under two illuminants, both unmodified and modified by Berns-Billmeyer performed best among the existing indices. The differences of color constancy indices showed good correlation with the degree of metamerism in some cases, and this may be utilized for developing newer indices of metamerism. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.