Applying Color Theory to Digital Media and Visualization

Theresa-Marie Rhyne

• Publisher: CRC Press
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781315350394
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Computer Science
• Subtopic: Computer Science General
• Index: Computer Science

This book provides an overview of the application of color theory concepts to digital media and visualization. It highlights specific color concepts like color harmony and shows how to apply the concept with case study examples and usage of actual online and mobile color tools. Color deficiencies are reviewed and discussed are color tools for examining how a specific color map design will look to someone with the deficiency. Other books on color examine artists' use of color, color management, or color science. This book applies fundamental color concepts to digital media and visualization solutions. It is intended for digital media and visualization content creators and developers.

• Presents Color Theory Concepts that can be applied to digital media and visualization problems over and over again
• Offers Comprehensive Review of the Historical Progression of Color Models
• Demonstrates actual case study implementations of color analyses tools
• Provides overview of Color Theory and Harmony Analytics in terms of online and mobile analysis tools
• Teaches the color theory language to use in interacting with color management professionals

CHAPTER 1

Introduction to Color Models

A COLOR MODEL IS A structured system for creating a full range of colors from a small set of defined primary colors. There are three fundamental models of color theory. As shown in Figure 1.1, these models are as follows: (1) the Red, Green, and Blue (RGB) color model of lights and display originally explored by Isaac Newton in 1666; (2) the Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Key Black (CMYK) model for printing in color originally patented by Jacob Christoph Le Blon in 1719; and (3) the Red, Yellow, Blue painters model fully summarized by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in 1810 [1]. Figure 1.1 shows a visual summary of these three fundamental models of color theory.

1.1 THE RGB COLOR MODEL

As shown in Figure 1.2, the RGB color model assembles the primary lights of Red, Green, and Blue together in various combinations to produce a broad range of colors. Red and Green lights are combined together to produce Yellow light. The RGB color model is termed as an additive color model in which the combination of the Red, Green, and Blue primary lights produces White light. The RGB color model is used in various technologies producing color images, such as conventional photography and the display of images in electronic systems. Examples of the RGB input devices include image scanners, video games, and digital cameras as well as television and video cameras. RGB output devices encompass the broad range of television-set technologies and video projector systems, along with computer and mobile phone displays. The RGB color model has a solid logic in terms of physics and the human perception of colors. Next, we provide a historical overview of this logic.

FIGURE 1.1 Visual summary of color models. The Red, Green, and Blue (RGB) color model is an additive color model for displays. The Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Key Black (CMYK) color model is a subtractive color model for printing. The Red, Yellow, and Blue (RYB) color model is designed for mixing colors with paints. (Images created by Theresa-Marie Rhyne, 2016.)

FIGURE 1.2 Illustration of the RGB color model. (Image created by Theresa-Marie Rhyne, 2016.)

In 1666, Isaac Newton explored the dispersion of White sunlight into a rainbow of colors. His experiments involved holding a glass prism in the path of sunlight coming through a hole in a dark room. The White light split into Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue (actually Cyan), Indigo (frequently referred to as Dark Blue), and Violet. Newton asserted that different colors combined to produce the White light. Newton published his findings in a book entitled Opticks, in English, in 1704 [2]. Newton’s rainbow color map for light has become the fundamental approach in the design of today’s visualization and digital media presentations. Newton also developed the initial concept of the color wheel that we will highlight in Section 1.4 of this chapter on color models. Although Newton did not define Red, Green, and Blue as the primary colors, his research was the first step in showing that color lights combine together to produce a broad array of additional colors. In Figure 1.3a, we diagram the conventional arrangement of what Newton defined as the dispersion of the White light into a rainbow of colors. In Figure 1.3b, we show an adapted version of Newton’s original drawing of the spectrum of colors from his book Opticks in 1704. Newton’s notations in the diagram refer to an analogy he developed where the seven colors of the rainbow correspond to the musical concept of seven sound intervals displayed by an octave.

FIGURE 1.3 (a) Rainbow diagram showing the conventional arrangement of colors (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue [actually Cyan], Indigo [Dark Blue], and Violet). (Based on Newton, I., Opticks: or a Treatise of the Reflexions, Refractions, Inflexions and Colours of Light, Samuel Smith and Benjamin Walford, London, United Kingdom, 1704. Image created by Theresa-Marie Rhyne, 2016.) (b) Redrawing of Isaac Newton’s diagram of the spectrum of light. (Adapted from Newton, I., Opticks: or a Treatise of the Reflexions, Refractions, Inflexions and Colours of Light, Samuel Smith and Benjamin Walford, London, United Kingdom, 1704. Image created by Theresa-Marie Rhyne, 2016.)

The RGB color model was actually defined in regard to the theory of trichromatic color vision. In 1802, Thomas Young, in a lecture entitled On the Theory of Light and Colours, postulated that each human eye had three types of photoreceptors (today referred to as cone cells). Young further proposed that each photoreceptor is sensitive to specific ranges of the visible light. In 1851, Hermann von Helmholtz, in his book Treatise on Physiological Optics, added to the theory further by noting that the three types of cone photoreceptors are long preferring (Red), medium preferring (Green), and short preferring (Blue). We will highlight these color vision concepts further in Chapter 2.

In 1861, during a lecture on his color studies at the Royal Institute in the United Kingdom, James Clerk Maxwell provided the first widely recognized demonstration of the RGB color model as well as what is often called the first color photograph [3]. In his lecture, Maxwell showed an image of a tartan ribbon photographed by a professional photographer on three plates through Red, Green, and Blue-Violet filters, respectively. Combining these filtered images together onto a screen produced a reasonable color display of the tartan ribbon. Figure 1.4 shows Maxwell’s demonstration that was revolutionary in 1861. This concept is now used in present-day video projection systems and is fundamental in regard to television, video, computer, and mobile phone displays.

FIGURE 1.4 Image of a tartan ribbon that James Clerk Maxwell demonstrated in his 1861 lecture on the RGB color model. This image is also considered the first color photograph. (From Maxwell, J.C., Br. J. Photogr., August 9, 1861, public domain.)

1.2 THE CMYK COLOR MODEL

The CMYK color model is designed to support color printing on White paper. The CMYK color model is termed as a subtractive color model in which the starting point begins with a White or light surface. Color pigments reduce the reflection of the original White light. The color inks thus subtract from the original White surface. Typical output devices for the CMYK color model include color inkjet, laser, and dye-sublimation printers. Each device has its own particular technology for color image reproduction. Figure 1.5 shows the CMYK color model.

Historically, for color printing processes to work, individual plates were created for the Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow (CMY) color pigments. The plates were registered over top of each other to produce full color images and the process was called a three-color printing process. When the primary pigments of CMY were combined together as inks, in equally large amounts, the result was a Black color. When color printing was put into practice, combining the CMY inks together became an expensive process and, in some situations, certain papers were unable to absorb all of the ink required. As a result, the color printing process was modified to allow for a Black plate to support the printing of Black text and other Black elements with the CMY printing plates being registered or “keyed” against the Black plate. This color printing process and its associated model was thus termed the CMYK color model. CMYK is thus a four-color printing process.

FIGURE 1.5 Illustration of the CMYK color model. (Image created by Theresa-Marie Rhyne, 2016.)

Today, when a digital image is printed, the RGB numeric values of the image are converted to the CMYK numeric values of a printer. In theory, the RGB and CMYK color models are complementary to each other. Various combinations of the Red, Green, and Blue primaries of the RGB color model produce CMY. The reverse is true for the CMY primaries where combinations of the CMYK color model produce Red, Green, and Blue. In practice, these combinations are not purely complementary since the RGB color model involves lights and the CMYK color model involves pigments. Colors selected and matched on an RGB mobile phone can appear with different intensity, perhaps even more subdued, when reproduced on White paper via a CMYK ink jet printer. Figure 1.6 shows the complementary relationship between the RGB and CMYK color models.

Three- and four-color reproduction processes were first patented in 1719 by Jacob Christoph Le Blon. Le Blon actually used Red, Yellow, and Blue (RYB) inks on individual metal plates with a Key Black registration plate as the foundation for his color reproduction methods. Like the CMYK color model, the RYB color model is also a subtractive model. We will highlight the RYB painters color model in the following section.

FIGURE 1.6 Diagram of the complementary relationship between the RGB color model and CMYK model. (Image created by Theresa-Marie Rhyne, 2016.)

1.3 THE RYB COLOR MODEL

The RYB color model is a subtractive color model for mixing painting pigments. It is usually the first color model that we learn at an early age, perhaps in kindergarten. Starting with White paper, RYB color pigments when combined together yield Black, similar to the CMYK color model. Secondary colors that result from mixing primary pigments include the following: (1) the combination of Red and Yellow to yield Orange, (2) the combination of ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Author
• Introduction
• Chapter 1 ■ Introduction to Color Models
• Chapter 2 ■ Review of Color Vision Principles
• Chapter 3 ■ Defining Color Gamut, Color Spaces, and Color Systems
• Chapter 4 ■ Defining Color Harmony
• Chapter 5 ■ Analyzing and Modifying with Online and Mobile Color Tools
• Chapter 6 ■ Case Study Examples of Colorizing Visualizations
• Chapter 7 ■ Review of Basic Concepts Covered
• Index