Seeing Colour :: Where to begin

How we see colour is definitely a complex subject. There is more than the relatively straight forward physics of light at various frequencies. Much of the so-called Colour Science is focussed on this, and is about matching colour (specifically the Hue). However there is a lot more to understand how Human Vision works, and what we call colour. This itself has two components a Physiology (to do with the vision apparatus, eg retina, rods,cones) and the Cognitive Psychology (to do with how the brain creates our concepts of colour)

I was fascinated that Tony Northrup was so surprised by his own user blind poll of the colour quality of various camera and Lenses. He compares their user ratings with a “colour science” study of the cameras using colour calibration charts. This evaluation really covers the transmission of light through the lens and onto the sensor, comparing known colour charts. This is all good science but that’s as far as the study goes, from the subject through the lens and onto the sensor. Yet Tony’s subject where looking at photo of common snapshot style subjects, and their vision was adding a lot to how colour was perceived, including their personal biases (including brand loyalty.

Thus I will begin a series of blog post about seeing colour, armed with the schematic hand drawn diagrams above and some context from Tony’s “Best Colour Science” You Tube Video. I trust that as I developed the discussion of seeing colour you too will understand why peoples’ perception of colour quality often differs from the “Colour Science”

Watch for Tony’s great quote “Colour is like Wine”