
The Search for Our Missing Colors - bananaoomarang
http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/the-search-for-our-missing-colors
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jacobolus
I wish people writing about new broad-gamut displays would at least include a
brief mention of the downsides of extremely narrow-wavelength-band primary
colors:

Such displays can create dramatic “observer metamerism” problems, where
different people view the colors on screen significantly differently from
each-other – even if they would see real-world objects relatively similarly –
because slight differences in color vision are amplified by color sources with
spiky spectra. Even worse, spiky spectra tend to cause a noticeable difference
between foveal and peripheral color perception.

References: [http://rit-mcsl.org/fairchild/PDFs/PRO30.pdf](http://rit-
mcsl.org/fairchild/PDFs/PRO30.pdf) [http://cias.rit.edu/media/uploads/faculty-
f-projects/1304/do...](http://cias.rit.edu/media/uploads/faculty-f-
projects/1304/documents/239/modeling-observer-metamerism.pdf)

Just did a google search, and there’s also some discussion here
[http://www.avsforum.com/forum/139-display-
calibration/190850...](http://www.avsforum.com/forum/139-display-
calibration/1908505-why-current-leds-oleds-breaking-cie1931-observer-
model.html)

Personally, I also feel like spiky-spectrum displays and light sources give me
more eyestrain and seem less pleasant to look at. But I admit that such an
effect might be entirely in my head.

I’m looking forward to the day when we have displays with 6+ primaries, or
maybe even reflective displays (not backlit) with 6+ subtractive color
primaries.

~~~
gohrt
> give me more eyestrain and seem less pleasant to look at. But I admit that
> such an effect might be entirely in my head.

Even if it isn't entirely in your head, it's still entirely in your head. ;-)

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cperciva
In case anyone else was annoyed by the lack of technical details:

Old (Rec. 709) colour space:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:CIExy1931_Rec_709.svg](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:CIExy1931_Rec_709.svg)

New (Rec. 2020) colour space:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:CIExy1931_Rec_2020.svg](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:CIExy1931_Rec_2020.svg)

Most of the "new colours" are greens and turquoises; reds can now be slightly
brighter, but blue is almost unchanged.

~~~
jacobolus
Gah. It’s been 40 years everyone. Let’s agree to stop using the CIE 1931 (x,
y) chromaticity diagram, which is horribly misleading, in favor of the CIE
1976 UCS (u', v') chromaticity diagram. [I would replace all the diagrams on
Wikipedia myself, but it would take several days of effort, and probably a few
weeks’ slog of talk page arguments.] The difference between these two color
spaces is much less extreme than the xy chart makes it look.

~~~
cperciva
I don't know enough about colour perception to argue the merits of one diagram
vs. another, but am I incorrect in my assessment of what colours are entering
the gamut (lots of green, a bit of red, not much blue at all)?

~~~
jacobolus
Sort of. The green area is not nearly as dramatically different as the xy
diagram makes it seem, while the red and blue areas will appear more different
in the u'v' diagram. (Of course, chromaticity diagrams in general aren’t a
perfect tool.) The “Gah” is directed at Wikipedia, not at you.

You can see some u'v' diagrams alongside spectral power distribution charts of
specific real-world displays in [http://cias.rit.edu/media/uploads/faculty-f-
projects/1304/do...](http://cias.rit.edu/media/uploads/faculty-f-
projects/1304/documents/239/modeling-observer-metamerism.pdf)

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ahazred8ta
* it's a tour of the exotic pigment samples collection at Harvard

~~~
kleer001
Thank you for saving me a click.

As a designer I get my panties in a knot every time I read about color. At
least when I catch misleading or ignorant headlines.

~~~
sp332
That comment only describes the video at the bottom, not the article.

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Agentlien
As someone who is used to being unable to distinguish between similar shades
of color, this strikes me as somewhat funny. So much ado about a few missing
nuances.

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KaiserPro
but its my understanding that rec. 709 isn't the same as sRGB which is what
most non-TV things are attempting to emulate/implement

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toomanythings2
iow, they are attempting, again, to emulate the capabilities long available in
film. This is reason #9179 why film STILL is the best medium.

~~~
BugsBunnySan
This is not about the recording side of things, this is about the display side
of things. And if you display footage shot on film on a standard computer
monitor, you won't magically have more color.

Also, modern high end digital cameras can record a lot more color information
than film can...

~~~
toomanythings2
As I said, for display, too, film beats them all.

