Tracing a metameric match to individual variations of color vision

Abstract

A metameric match made by an observer under established experimental conditions might not be the same as made by another, indicating that the color vision differs between the two observers. We have analyzed the variations of normal color vision using metameric surfaces. First, using a set of cone fundamentals, we modeled the matches of a theoretical observer with normal color vision on the Davidson & Hemmendinger (D&H) Color Rule. We also derived deviate cone fundamentals by changing the macular pigment density and the lens density, and by shifting the long-wave-sensitive photopigment along the wave-number axis. The results showed shifts in the matches for the deviate observer of no more than one sample on the D&H Color Rule, the largest shifts being due to lens density. Second, we modeled the matches made on the D&H Color Rule of 8 observers by computing their personalized cone fundamentals using their independently recorded measures of macular pigment density and lens density, and their Rayleigh matches. The results show that the use of personalized cone fundamentals provides a better prediction than the use of data from a theoretical observer. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Col Res Appl, 23: 379–389, 1998