What is colour? How is it detected?
According to the official CIE definition in the International Lighting Vocabulary, color is an “attribute of visual perception consisting of any combination of chromatic and achromatic content. This attribute can be described by chromatic color names such as yellow, orange, brown, red, pink, green, blue, purple, etc., or by achromatic color names such as white, gray, black, etc., and qualified by bright, dim, light, dark, etc., or by combinations of such names. Perceived color depends on the spectral distribution of the color stimulus, on the size, shape, structure, and surround of the stimulus area, on the state of adaptation of the observer s visual system, and on the observer s experience of the prevailing and similar situations of observations.” Color is detected by the human visual system. The physical attributes of light and objects that produce the stimulus for color are measured with spectroradiometers and spectrophotometers.
