Optimising colour preference and colour discrimination for jeans under 5500 K light sources with different Duv values

Abstract

Our previous work revealed that, compared with other correlated colour temperatures (CCTs), a light source of 5500 K could arouse the strongest colour preference perception for blue jeans and provide the best colour discrimination capability for blue colours. In this study, we further investigated the impact of light sources on colour preference and colour discrimination using the same experimental objects (i.e. jeans and colour samples). Nine light sources of 5500 K were adopted and the illuminance level was set to 500 lx. Those lights were of different Duv values (-0.02 to 0.02, in 0.005 intervals) and similar colour rendering indices (CRIs, 87–92). Following a similar experimental protocol adopted in the earlier work, 30 subjects participated in the colour preference experiment while 24 observers joined the colour discrimination test (the Farnsworth-Munsell 100 Hue Test). The experimental results indicate that, once again, the colour preference and colour discrimination of lighting reached an optimum simultaneously, at a Duv value of -0.01. The hue shift and hue difference were proved to be closely associated with colour preference rating and colour discrimination scores, respectively. In addition, significant gender difference was again found, which had been reported in our latest work.