What is CIE 1976 (L* a* b*) colour space?

There are perhaps two problems with the specification of colours in terms of tristimulus values
and chromaticity space. Firstly, this specification is not easily interpreted in terms of the
psychophysical dimensions of colour perception namely, brightness, hue, and colourfulness.
Secondly, the XYZ system and the associated chromaticity diagrams are not perceptually
uniform. The second of these points is a problem if we wish to estimate the magnitude of the
difference between two colour stimuli. The need for a uniform colour space led to a number of
non-linear transformations of the CIE 1931 XYZ space and finally resulted in the specification of
one of these transformations as the CIE 1976 (L* a* b*) colour space.

In fact in 1976 the CIE specified two colour spaces; one of these was intended for use with self-
luminous colours and the other was intended for use with surface colours. These notes are
principally concerned with the latter known as CIE 1976 (L* a* b*) colour space or CIELAB.

CIELAB allows the sepcification of colour perceptions in terms of a three-dimensional space.

The L*-axis is known as the lightness and extends from 0 (black) to 100 (white). The other two
coordinates a* and b* represent redness-greeness and yellowness-blueness respectively. Samples
for which a* = b* = 0 are achromatic and thus the L*-axis represents the achromatic scale of
greys from black to white.

The quantities L*, a*, and b* are obtained from the tristimulus values according to the following
transformations:

L* = 116(Y/Yn)1/3 -16,
a* = 500[(X/Xn)1/3 - (Y/Yn)1/3],
b* = 200[(Y/Yn)1/3 - (Z/Zn)1/3],

where Xn, Yn, and Zn are the values of X, Y, and Z for the illuminant that was used for the
calculation of X, Y, and Z of the sample, and the quotients X/Xn,Y/Yn, and Z/Zn are all greater than
0.008856. Note: When any of the quotients are less than or equal to 0.008856 a slightly different
set of equations is used.
Glossary

CIE: The CIE is short for Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage which is the french title of
the international commission on light.

CIE 1931: In 1931 the CIE developed a system for specifying colour stimuli using tristimulus
values for three imaginary primaries. The basis of this system was the CIE 1931 standard
observer.

Tristimulus values: The amounts of three primaries that specify a colour stimulus. The CIE
1931 tristimulus values are called X, Y, and Z.

What are the chromaticity coordinates?

There is often a need for an intuitive interpretation of colour specification in terms of tristimulus
values. This is one reason why the three-dimensional colour colour space defined by X, Y, and Z
is often transformed and plotted in terms of a chromaticity diagram. Chromaticity coordinates x,
y, and z are derived by calculating the fractional components of the tristimulus values thus:

x = X/(X + Y + Z),
y = Y/(X + Y + Z),
z = Z/(X + Y + Z).

Since by definition x + y + z = 1, if two of the chromaticity coordinates are known then the third
is redundant. Thus, all possible sets of tristimulus values can be represented in a two-
dimensional plot of two of these chromaticity coordinates and by convention x and y are always
used. A plot of this type is referred to as a chromaticity diagram. The use of chromaticity
diagrams has not enabled three-dimensional data to be compressed into two-dimensional data.
Consider two samples A and B having specification:

Sample A: X = 10, Y = 20, Z = 30

Sample B: X = 20, Y = 40, Z = 60

Samples A and B have identical chromaticity coordinates but different tristimulus values. The
difference between the two samples is one of luminance and B would probably appear brighter
than A if the two samples were viewed together. A complete specification using chromaticity
coordinates therefore requires two chromaticity coordinates and one of the tristimulus values.

What are brightness, hue and colourfullness?

The perceptual attributes brightness, hue, and colourfulness are defined as follows:

Brightness: attribute of a visual sensation according to which an area appears to exhibit more or
less light.

Hue: attribute of a visual sensation according to which an area appears to be similar to one, or
proportions of two, of the perceived colours red, yellow, green, and blue.

Colourfulness: attribute of a visual sensation according to which an area appears to exhibit more
or less of its hue.