The Color Matching Experiment

A simulation of the experiments behind the CIE standard observers

Three lamps with independent spectral distributions \(R_d, G_d, B_d\) and weight factors \(R_w, G_w, B_w\) generate a certain color impression \(C = R_w R_d + G_w G_d + B_w B_d\). If a target lamp generates the color impression \(T\), can we match \(C = T\) by adjusting \(R_w,G_w,B_w\) ?


Assumes the viewer is 60cm away from the screen.

T light C light



See Essential Color Science for context.

Sources

  1. Wright, W. D. (1928–29). "A re-determination of the trichromatic coefficients of the spectral colours." Transactions of the Optical Society, 30(4), 141–164. https://doi.org/10.1088/1475-4878/30/4/301
  2. Guild, J. (1931). "The colorimetric properties of the spectrum." Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A, 230(681–693), 149–187.
  3. Fairman, H. S., Brill, M. H., & Hemmendinger, H. (1997). "How the CIE 1931 color-matching functions were derived from Wright–Guild data." Color Research & Application, 22(1), 11–23.