GEK1532 Light perception by the eye: physiology of perception

Thorsten Wohland Dep. Of Chemistry S8-03-06 Tel.: 6516 1248 E-mail: chmwt@nus.edu.sg

T.N. Cornsweet, Fig. 2.2

This axis represents the possible excitation values for cone B, i.e. the number of photons absorbed.

For a Dichromat:
This curve represents the possible ratios a single wavelength can elicit in your two cone system for a constant number of photons.

This line represents a constant number of absorbed photons T.N. Cornsweet, Fig. 8.12b This axis represents the possible excitation values for cone A, i.e. the number of photons absorbed.

The dashed line represents a constant ratio but different total intensities

Sensitivity space for a trichromat

T.N. Cornsweet, Fig. 8.18 This curve represents the possible ratios a single wavelength can elicit in the three cone system for a constant number of photons.

T.N. Cornsweet, Fig. 10.2 This plane is for a constant stimulation, a constant number of absorbed photons.

The normalization of the color space

We have here three different colors in the three lines. Within each line the color does only change in brightness, that is the relative amount of red green and blue (RGB) mixed is the same but the absolute amount differs.

R:G:B = 1 : 0.125 : 1

R:G:B = 0.125 : 1 : 1

R:G:B = 1 : 1 : 0.125

Normalization
Assume you characterize a color by three intensity values for the primary colors. The ratio of the intensity values tells you in which amount you have to mix the three primaries to arrive at you color.

: G : B

: G : B

: G : B

167 : 167 : 21

200 : 200 : 25

240 : 240 : 30

R r! RG  B G g! RG  B B b! RG  B

r  gb!
R G B   ! RG  B R G  B R G  B
RG  B !1 RG  B

Normalization
Assume you characterize a color by three intensity values for the primary colors. The ratio of the intensity values tells you in which amount you have to mix the three primaries to arrive at you color.

: G : B

: G : B

: G : B

167 : 167 : 21

200 : 200 : 25

240 : 240 : 30

r, g

r  g  b !1

b !1 r  g

Absolute values for R:G:B (from Adobe Illustrator on a scale form 0-255): Relative values R:G:B = 1 : 1 : 0.125 167 : 167 : 21 200 : 200 : 25 240 : 240 : 30

R r! R G  B G g! R G  B B b! R G  B

167 200 240 1 ! ! ! } 0.471 r! 355 425 510 2.125 1 } 0.471 g! 2.125 0.125 } 0.058 b! 2.125

r  g b !1 0.471  0.471  0.058 ! 1

Physiological vs Physical Color space

Up to now we have talked about perception, i.e. the amount of light absorbed by the receptors in the eye. However, the absoprtion in the eye is in reality very difficult to measure. So can we find another way to classify color with a paramtere that is more easily measurable? Yes, we could use the light intensity as a measure for the color instead of the absorption of that light in the eye. This application leads to a system called CIE system (CIE: Commission Internationale dEclairage or International Commission on Illumination)

Constant intensity Constant number of photons

Light source Light of ONE wavelength P!600 nm comes from this light source with a constant number n = 106 photons per second The light beam has a cross section of A = 1 mm2

c E ! hR ! h P
Intensity ! Energy Time Area

hc 3 108 6 34 I !n A ! 10 6.63 10 1 ! 0.33 1012 W P 600 10 9

Constant intensity Constant number of photons

Light source Light of TWO wavelength
P !600 nm (n1 = 0.5*106 ) P = 400 nm (n2 = 0.5*106 )

A = 1 mm2

n1 n2 106 106 12 8 34 I ! hc  n2 A ! 3 10 6.63 10 W 1 ! 0.41 10  P 600 10 9 400 10 9 P2 1

Note: The number of photons is constant but the intensity has changed since the photons have different wavelength. The photons at 400 nm have a higher energy than the photons at 600 nm and thus the intensity has increased.

Constant intensity Constant number of photons Constant stimulation

Light source One wavelength, P = 600 nm n = 1,000,000 What happens now in the eye? The stimulation in the eye depends on HOW MANY PHOTONS ARE ABSORBED. If the beam of light (A = 1 mm2) is imaged by the eye on the retina it hits lets say, 10,000 cones (5,000 blue cones and 5,000 red cones). So every cone receives 100 photons.
1.0

0.9

0.9*100=90 photons absorbed (red) 0.2*100=20 photons absorbed (blue)

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0.2

0.0

Constant intensity Constant number of photons Constant stimulation

Light source

So we have seen the following: 1) Constant number of photons does not necessarily mean constant intensity (only when a single wavelength is present would that be true). 2) The stimulation in your eye depends on the number of photons absorbed Accordingly we have two systems of color classification systems: 1) Based on intensity (CIE: Commission Internationale dEclairage or International Commission on Illumination) 2) Based on number of photons absorbed (physiological system)

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T.N. Cornsweet, Fig. 10.2

Differences: CIE is derived form color mixture data of three wavelength Fig. on right is derived for measured sensitivities of the eye CIE is derived for constant energy Fig. on right is derived for constant number of photons

hc E ! hR ! P

Gamut in the CIE system

Fig. 1-10 of Nassau

Problem
In the CIE system we marked all naturally occurring wavelength on a horseshoe shaped curve. Each point indicating the color we perceive at that wavelength. For this purpose we needed only 2 values (the x-y axes) since we normailzed the system to a constant intensity. All possible mixtures of these wavelength lie within this curve. E.g. All mixtures of blue at 380 nm and red at 780 nm lie on the connection line of the ends of the horseshoe, giving us purple colors. Within this system we can classify all colors. And we can determine as well the possible mixtures of any colors in the system

Mixture of three colors

Assume you choose 460, 530, and 650 nm. Can you match all spectral colors with this choice?

STL, Chapter 9

Color Classification Systems

Books: The Physics and Chemistry of Color, Kurt Nassau, John Wiley, QC495Nas:RBR Color Vision and Colorimetry, Daniel Malacara, SPIE press, QP483 MAL 2002 (CL)

Websites: http://www.colorcube.com/articles/models/model.htm http://www.colorcube.com http://www.cie.co.at/cie/ http://www.adobe.com/support/techguides/color/colormodels/ http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/hframe.html

Early systems
Aristotle: Color Sphere

Nassau, Fig. 1.1

Green

Cyan White

Yellow

Blue

Magenta

Red

The CIE system

Complementary colors are connected by a straight line going through white.

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The CIE system

Mixtures of colors are easy to find.

Distance from 486 nm point is three times longer than from 545 nm point. Therefore you need a mixture of 486:545 nm of 1:3.

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The CIE system

It can be easily found how to construct metamers.

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Problem
In the CIE system we marked all naturally occurring wavelength on a horseshoe shaped curve. Each point indicating the color we perceive at that wavelength. For this purpose we needed only 2 values (the x-y axes) since we normailzed the system to a constant intensity. All possible mixtures of these wavelength lie within this curve. E.g. All mixtures of blue at 380 nm and red at 780 nm lie on the connection line of the ends of the horseshoe, giving us purple colors. Within this system we can classify all colors. And we can determine as well the possible mixtures of any colors in the system

The CIE system 1931

T.N. Cornsweet, Fig. 10.2

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CIE

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CIE, corrected 1961 and 1974

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CIE

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A short remark on other color classification schemes: Albert Henry Munsell

Munsell, an American artist, published a color theme in 1905 that was accepted by the US Bureau of Standards. He assigned 3 values to each color, HUE, VALUE (brightness), and CHROMA (saturation or purity of color) and created a 3D system. His system is still used today and contains well over 1500 precisely defined colors. 1858-1918

The color system of Munsell has many gaps since it is based on real pigments. The gaps in the system are filled with time when new pigments become available.

Munsell: division of color in a circle

5 principle hues: blue, green, yellow, red, purple, and 5 intermediate hues.

L.C. Thomas, Fig. 3.6

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Different types of color deficiencies and their frequency

Most Human beings: Trichromats (three cones) Dichromat protanopes (deficient in red response) deuteranopes (deficient in green response) tritanopes (deficient in blue response)

Different types of color deficiencies and their frequency

Most human beings: Trichromats (three cones) Anomalous Trichromats protanomalous (reduced red response) deuteranomalous (reduced green response) tritanomalous (reduced blue response)

See the following website for some pictures that demonstrate vision of color deficient people: http://www.mcw.edu/cellbio/colorvision/test1.htm

Different types of color deficiencies and their frequency

All defects we discussed up to now lead to people that are color deficient. People that are color blind are Monochromats (achromatic vision) cone monochromats (one cone works) rod monochromats (no cone) -> photophobic Defect monochromats deuteranopes protanopes tritanopes Anomalous trichromacy See chapter 14 of Kurt Nassau Frequency of occurrence in males 0.01 % 2% 2% < 0.1 % 5%

Color defects
Roughly 10 % of males and 0.5 % of females have color defects. Rarer cases include on sided color defects (unilateral color deficiency) or Digit-color synaesthesia in which digits can elicit a color perception (Nature 406, 365, July 27, 2000).

Summary
Color spaces: physiological-physical Color spaces: physiological-CIE Normalization Advantages of the CIE system Problems of the CIE system Color deficiencies