WPE 307

Theory of Color Physics

Color vision
Color vision:
•Color vision, ability to distinguish among various wavelengths of
light waves and to perceive the differences as differences in hue.
•The normal human eye can discriminate among hundreds of such
bands of wavelengths as they are received by the color-sensing cells
(cones) of the retina.
•Color vision, a feature of visual perception, is an ability to perceive
differences between light composed of different frequencies
independently of light intensity.
Mechanism of human color vision:
How We See Color:
•While light reflections release specific wavelengths, our brains
interpret them as the colors we know and love.
•First, the reflected light enters the eye through the cornea.
•Then, a lens focuses it into the retina, the layers of nerve cells at the
back of the eye.
•The retina contains cells called photoreceptors, mainly rods and
cones, which detect light waves.
•Rods activate in low or dim light and do not process colors.
•Cones are stimulated in brighter environments.
•Most of us have about 6 million cones, and 110 million rods.
•Cones contain photo pigments, or color-detecting molecules.
•Humans typically have three types of photo pigments—red, green
and blue.
•These photoreceptors weave their way to the brain, connecting the
communication patterns from the neurons in the retina to the brain.
Color vs. Appearance:
•In the common vernacular, color is typically a characteristic of
appearance. For our purposes, appearance refers to surface features,
like gloss and texture.
•As light reflects off an object, it can take a few differing paths, based
on the smoothness of the surface.
•Specular reflection: Specular reflections occur on surfaces with
relatively few imperfections. We might see specular light in a still
lake. It would reflect the trees and the clouds above it, so we could
make out the image.
•Diffuse reflection: A diffuse reflection is much more common. It
happens when the surface is rough or textured. The light reflects in
random directions and won’t maintain an image of the source light.
•Combinations: Both specular and diffuse reflections can occur at the
same time. Usually, this happens with scattered light distributed in a
specific group. Semi-gloss and textured metals are an example of
these mixtures. We may be able to see a low-resolution reflection of
the image around it.
Mechanism of human color vision:
How the Eyes Work:
All the different parts of our eyes work together to help we see.
•First, light passes through the cornea (the clear front layer of the
eye). The cornea is shaped like a dome and bends light to help the eye
focus.
•Some of this light enters the eye through an opening called
the pupil (PYOO-pul). The iris (the colored part of the eye) controls
how much light the pupil lets in.
•Next, light passes through the lens (a clear inner part of the eye). The
lens works together with the cornea to focus light correctly on the
retina.
•When light hits the retina (a light-sensitive layer of tissue at the back of
the eye), special cells called photoreceptors turn the light into electrical
signals.
•These electrical signals travel from the retina through the optic nerve to
the brain. Then the brain turns the signals into the images we see.
Color vision:
What we find out, however, is that color is a matter of perception. It
requires three things:
•An object
•A light source: The light source can be natural or human-made
•An observer: the observer doesn’t necessarily need to be a living
creature — it can also include machines like cameras and
spectrophotometers.

When light bounces off an object, photons and electrons interact,

with electrons absorbing or reflecting the light. In the process of
reflection, the electrons release specific wavelengths of energy that
correspond to certain colors, which our brains process.
Defective color vision:
•Color vision defects, also known as color blindness, occurs when
someone is not able to see colors in a normal way.
•It does not mean blind or that they only see black or white.
•Color blindness usually happens when a person cannot tell the
difference between certain colors.
•This happens mostly between greens and reds and sometimes blues
or yellows.
Types of Color Blindness:
Trichromacy/ normal vision:
•Normal color vision uses all three types of cone cells which are
functioning correctly.
•Another term for normal color vision is trichromacy.
•People with normal color vision are known as trichromats.
Anomalous Trichromacy/ defective color vision:
•People with ‘faulty’ trichromatic vision will be colour blind to some
extent and are known as anomalous trichromats.
•In people with this condition all of their three cone cell types are used
to perceive light wavelengths but one type of cone cell perceives light
slightly out of alignment.
•There are three different types of effect produced depending upon
which cone cell type is ‘faulty’ and there are also different severities.

The different anomalous condition types are –

•protanomaly, which is a reduced sensitivity to red light,
•deuteranomaly which is a reduced sensitivity to green light (the
most common form of color blindness) and
•tritanomaly which is a reduced sensitivity to blue light (extremely
rare).
Normal vision Deuteranopia
Dichromacy:
•Dichromatic color vision has only two types of cone cells which are
able to perceive color.
•i.e. they have a total absence of function of one cone cell type,
resulting in a specific section of the light spectrum which can’t be
perceived at all.

Normal vision Protanopia

Monochromacy (achromatopsia):
•People with monochromatic vision can see no colour at all and their
world consists of different shades of grey ranging from black to white.
•Achromatopsia is a specific eye condition in which people see in
greyscale.
•Achromatopsia is extremely rare, occuring only in approximately 1
person in 33,000.

Monochromacy (achromatopsia)
Red-green color vision deficiency:
The most common type of color vision deficiency makes it hard to tell
the difference between red and green.

There are 4 types of red-green color vision deficiency:

•Deuteranomaly is the most common type of red-green color vision
deficiency. It makes certain shades of green look more red. This type
is mild and doesn’t usually get in the way of normal activities.
•Protanomaly makes certain shades of red look more green and less
bright. This type is mild and usually doesn’t get in the way of normal
activities.
•Protanopia and deuteranopia both make someone unable to tell the
difference between red and green at all.
Blue-yellow color vision deficiency:
This less-common type of color vision deficiency makes it hard to tell
the difference between several different color combinations.

There are 2 types of blue-yellow color vision deficiency:

•Tritanomaly makes it hard to tell the difference between blue and
green and between yellow and red.
•Tritanopia makes someone unable to tell the difference between blue
and green, purple and red, and yellow and pink. It also makes colors
look less bright.
Thanks to all