6/30/2016 ColorWheelsarewrong?

Howcolorvisionactuallyworks@ASmartBearWPEngine

ColorWheelsarewrong?Howcolorvisionactuallyworks
BYJ ASO NCO HENO NJ ANUARY31,2011 111CO MMENT S

Colortheoryisalittleobsessionofmine.Yourehereforstartupadvice,butthisweekImtakingan
indulgence.Leaveacommentifyouwanttoseemoreorfeweroftheselittledistractions.

Whyareartistsspecial?
Askanyartisttoexplainhowcolorworks,andtheylllaunchintoatreatiseabouthowtheThree
PrimaryColors:red,blue,andyellowformacolorwheel:

Whywheel?Allothercolorsarecreatedbymixingthesethreecolorsincertainproportions,
theyllexplain.Inparticular,mixingequalquantitiesofeachpairofPrimaryColorsproduces
theSecondaryColors(orange,green,andpurple):

Continuingthisprocessproducestheinfamouscolorwheelyouprobablylearnedinschoola
pretty,symmetrical,satisfyingdeviceinwhicheachhuemeldsseamlesslyandlinearlyintothe
next:

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Unfortunately,noneofthisstandsuptoevenminorscrutiny.
Forexample,openupyourdesktopprinterandyoullseesomethingquitedifferent:

Threecolorsofinkwhich,whencombined,produceallothers:cyan,magenta,andyellow.(Blackis
includedasamoneysaverblackisthecheapestandmostcommoncoloritscheapertohavea
blackcartridgethantodumpinkfromtheotherthree.)

Butwait!IthoughtthePrimarycolorswerered,blue,andyellow,notcyan(bluishgreen),
magenta(bluishred),andyellow.SothisisadifferentsetofthreecolorswhicharePrimary,yet
stillgeneratecolorwheelscontainingalltheothercolors.SowhatdoesthePrimary
designationreallymean?

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Alsoitsnotassimpleassayinganythreecolorscanproducealltheothersbecausethatsclearly
nottrue(byexperiment).Anditsnotassimpleassayinganythreecolorswilldo,theyjusthaveto
beequallyspacedaroundthecolorwheel,becauseyellowiscommontoboththepaintersand
printerswheel,yettheothertwoprimariesdiffercompletely(redandblueareprimaryinthe
painterswheelbutsecondaryintheprinterswheel.)

TVsandcomputersaredifferentyetagain.IfyoustandclosetoaCRT(nonflatscreen),youcan
seethateverypixel(ordot)isreallythreetightlypackedcoloredphosphors:red,green,andblue.

IfyouvedonecomputergraphicsyouvebeenforcedtonamecolorsusingtheseRGBcolor
valuestruegeeksautomaticallythinkyellowwhentheysee#FFFF00.(Ifitsintuitivetoyou
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that#A33F17isburntorange,youareindeedaGodamongmen.Imlookingatyou,@soopa.)

ThisleadstoyetanothersystemofthreePrimarycolorsgeneratingalltheothers,and
anothercolorwheel.Thisoneisalittleeasiertoexplaininkandpaintaresubtractive(adding
cyan,magenta,andyellowyieldsblack)whereascoloredlightisadditive(meaningifyoublast
red,green,andblueyougetwhite):

Still,wehaveyetanothercolorwheelinwhichtwo(butnotallthree!)primariesmatchthoseof
theartistswheelandnonematchthoseoftheprinterswheel.

Thisisntaddingup.Letsturntoscience.

Physicsmakesitworse
Physicsisclearandcertain.Lightisawaveofenergy(oraparticle,butfortodayitsjustawave
OK?)and,likeavibratingguitarstring,lightwaveswiggleatcertainfrequencies.Someofthose
frequencieswedetectwithoureyes,andthefrequencydeterminesitscolor:

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Nowweregettingsomewhere!Orarewe?

Firstoff,wevesuddenlylostthenotionofawheel.Asmuchasthepreviouscolorsystemshave
contradictedeachother,atleasttheyallagreedthathuestransformsmoothlyandcontinuously,
onetothenext,abeautifulsymmetrywithneitherbeginningnorend.

Butherewehaveaclearbeginning(red)andend(violet).Thecolorsinbetweenarecontinuous
andseemtogenerallymatchtheorderseeninthevariouscolorwheelsbutthenitjust
terminateswithviolet.Howdoesitgetbacktored?Whataboutthatfuchsia/magenta/
purplishreddishcolorwhichisclearlypresentineverycolorwheelbutmissingfrom
thephysicalspectrum?

Howcanacolorbemissing?Wheredoesitcomefrom?

Butwait,werenotdone.

Anotherthingtoresolve:Opposites
EverysevenyearoldkidinAmericaistaughtthattheoppositeofredisgreenandtheopposite
ofblueisyellow.Butwhatdoesthatmeanexactly?

Afterall,theresnothinginthatlinearphysicallightspectrumtoindicatethatanycoloristhe
oppositeofanyother,particularlynotthosetwopairs.Andthecolorwheelsarentmuchhelp
eithertryingtomatchtheoppositesonthepainterswheelyieldsanunsatisfyingasymmetry
wheretwooftheprimariesareopposite,andthethirdisoppositefromasecondary:

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Butoppositesarereal.Intheearly1800sGoethe(yes,theGoethe)noticedthatred/greenand
blue/yellowwereneverperceivedtogether,inthesensethatnocolorcouldbedescribedasa
combinationofthosepairs.Nocolorcouldbedescribedasreddishgreenifyouareaskedto
imagineagreenwithabitofred,nothingcomestomind.Inthefollowing150years,various
experimentsweredevisedtotestthisidea,allofwhichvalidatedhisobservation.

Theressomethingtothis.Somethingneitherthewheelsnorthespectrumcanexplain.

Itstimetogetdowntotherealsourceofcolor:Theridiculouscomplexityofhumanbeings.

Theanswers:Physiology(ofcourse).
CaveatEmptor:Thefollowingisagrossandirresponsibleoversimplificationofwhatactually
happens.Butitscorrectinitsgeneralthrust,andfewpeopleonEarth(myselfexcluded)are
qualifiedtoexplainwithcompleteaccuracy,sointheinterestofgeneralillumination,nopun
intended,OKmaybeintendedjustalittlebit,Imdoingitanyway.Sothere.

Ofcourseitstartsintheeye,wherethreetypesofcellscalledconesmeasuretheamountofred,
green,andbluelighthittingtheretina.

Ahha,IcanhearyouCSSfreaksscream,itsRGBafterall!Iwasright!Allthattimespent
nayinvestedinknowingthingslike#001067isthedefaulttitlebarcolorinWindows95waswell
worthit!

Holdonthere,cowboy.Actuallyamountofred,green,andblueisagrosssimplification,asI
warned.Peakingunderthehood(justatad),thethreetypesofconesareinfactdenotedS,M,and
Lforshort,medium,andlongwavelengths,andactuallyrespondtoarangeofwavelengths,with
acertainlevelofresponsefordifferentwavelengths,likeso:

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ButIdigress,andbesidesIdidpromisetobeallgrossandirresponsible,soIllstickwiththat.

SothereareR,G,andBcones.Thesignalsfromtheseconesdontgostraighttothebraintheyfirst
passthroughapreprocessingfilter,anditsthisfilterthatexplainsallthe
mysteries.Actuallytherearethreefilters.

Filter#1workslikethis:

Explanation:ThemoreRthereis,themorepositivethesignalthemoreG,themorenegativethe
signal.IftheresrelativelyequalamountsofRandGwhetherneitherofboth,alittleofboth,ora
lotofboththesignaliszero.

Thisexplainswhytheresnogreenishred.Because:

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LetssayRandGcangobetween0and100unitsofintensity.Considerthecaseoffullredwitha
littlegreen,whereR=100(fullintensity)andG=25(onequarterintensity).Thenseparately
considerthecaseofstrongredwithnogreen,whereR=75andG=0.

Inbothcases,Filter#1computesthesameoutputsignal:75.Butrememberthebraindoesntget
therawRandGsignalsitonlygetsthefiltersoutputsothebraincannottellthe
differencebetweenthesetwoscenarios.

Sotheresnosuchthingasredwithalittlegreentheresjustalessintensered.Thebrain
physicallycannotseegreenishredbecausethefilterremovesthatinformation.

Knowingthatblue/yellowistheotheroppositepair,youcanprobablyguesswhatFilter#2is:

Hereblue(B)isopposedwithacombinationofboththeRandGchannels.TheRandGconesare
stimulatedeitherwhentheresliterallybothredandgreenlight(likewhenaCSScoderturnson
bothredandgreenas#FFFF00tocreateyellow),orwhen570nmlight(yellow,onthevisible
spectrum)stimulatesbothRandGcones.

Filter#3issimple:

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Inshort,itmeasuresthequantityoflightwithoutregardtowhathueitis.Thisishowbright,or
luminanceincolortheoryparlance.

Andmagenta?ItcomesfromfullRandBwithnoG,activatingFilter#1fullpositive,Filter#2at
zero.Itsnotaphysicalwavelengthofcolor,itsjustacombinationofoutputsfromtwofilters.

TheRightwheel,simplistically
Todothiswheelthingproperly,youhavetorepresentthered/greenandblue/yellowopposites.
Itsnotatalldifficult,soitamazesmehowrarelyitsseenortaught:

Fourprimarycolors?Yes,whynot?Itstheclosestthingtotheactualphysiologywithoutgetting
complex.

BonusBrainBender:Thecontext/colorconnection
Thisisjustthebeginningofcolortheory.Togiveyouaglimpseofhowcomplexitgets,consider
this:

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Whenacolorisjuxtaposedwithothercolors,weperceiveitasadifferentcolor.Forexample,most
peoplewillsaythesmallsquareontheleftisorange,whereastheoneontherightisbrown:

Actually,thesquaresareexactlythesamecolor!Thesurroundingcontextdictates
theperceivedcolor,ontopofallthatwavelengthphysiologywejustdid.

Itgetsworse,becausethebrainprojectsabstractthingsitknowsaboutthenaturalworldontoyour
perceptionofcolor.Forexample,weknowintuitivelythatshadowsartificiallydarkencolors,soour
brainsautomaticallyaccountforthisinourperceptionofthosecolors.(Itscalledcolor
constancy.)Forexample,youknowthatthedarkandlightcolorsonthishotairballoonarethe
same:

Butitalsoresultsinopticalillusionssopowerfulthatevenwhenyouknowthetrickyoustillcant
seeitcorrectly.Likethis:Whichsquareisdarker:AorB?

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InfactAandBarethesamecolor(#787878),butyoucantseeitevenwhenyouknowthis.To
proveittomyselfIhadtoopenthispictureinanimageeditorandactuallymoveonesquareover
anothertoseeitwasthesame.

Freaky.

FurtherReading
Yougotthisfar?Youstillcare?Sheesh,youreasweirdasme.

Ifyoureallywanttoloseafewdaysofyourlife,thisisanamazing,indepthtreatiseoncolor
theory.Thatlinkisjustpage1of8.Goodluck.

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