The Art of Color Science: Individual Differences

Abstract

The fundamental data of color science are color matching functions, which represent the spectral absorption properties of cone photoreceptors. All colorimetry follows from these functions, which, in standard form, are intended to represent the average sensitivities of the population of human observers with normal color vision. Individuals are, however, individual and have their own color matching functions and other visual responses that naturally vary from the mean. This paper provides a review of the nature and magnitude of individual differences in color matching functions and other mechanisms of color perception along with suggestions for practical systems to account for individual differences in colorimetric practice.