Algorithms and the magic of the colour space

Colours form a solid in a continuous three-dimensional space. A colour can be represented as a point in this space. The way this space is defined and its coordinates are influenced by perception, the human colour vision. There is a colour space, called the Munsell colour space, in which a distance is defined that takes into account human perception as well as rigorous data from reflectance spectra. There is a necessity to predict how colours can be perceived, in industry, television or computing.

colours For example, in this image the single colour zig-zag line seems to change colour as the background colour changes. Bayes Probability Theory or Neural Networks can be used to predict a colour as an outcome of an industrial process like dyeing or in a mixed colour pattern on a television or computer screen, on a textile fabric, on pottery etc.

www.colourware.co.uk/steve/
Prof. Steve Westland, Professor of Colour Science and Technology, University of Leeds, U.K.
www.city.ac.uk/colourgroup/
The Colour Group of Great Britain
www.munsell.com/
Munsell Color Standards
www.cie.co.at/cie/
CIE - International Commission on Illumination
www.adobe.com/support/techdocs/320624.html
Color management terminology Support Knowledgebase, Adobe Systems Inc.