Where Perception Meets Reality: The Science of Measuring Color

Abstract

Color is something that most people take for granted. A key assumption in color science is that our perceptions are similar and individual differences are small. Predictable rules, such as additive color mixing, make color modeling possible so that we can describe the richness of color in relatively low-dimensional spaces like red, green, and blue (RGB). Here, we look at how scientists define and calibrate color, various color measurement methods, and issues that arise when attempting to accurately measure and quantify color.