Online Software Help Manual

BookmarkIndexPrint
Contents
Display Legacy Contents

CIE 1976 L*u*v* color model

In 1976, the CIE defined two new color spaces to enable us to get more uniform and accurate models. The first of these two color spaces is the CIE L*u*v* which component are L*, u* and v*. L* component defines the luminance, and u*, v* define chroma. CIE L*u*v* color model is very often used in calculation of small colors or color differences, especially with additive colors. The CIE L*u*v* color space is defined from CIE 1931 color model.

CIE 1976 L*u*v* color algorithm

The quantities of L*, u* and v* will be calculated from the tristimulus values X, Y and Z using the following equations:

for Y/Yn > 0.008856

for Y/Yn <= 0.008856

where

and

X, Y, and Z are the CIE tristimulus values.
X
n, Yn, and Zn are the tristimulus values for the illuminant.
x
n, yn and zn are the chromaticity coordinates.

CIE 1976 L*u*v* color difference

Color differences will be measured as total difference of the L*, u* and u* values of a sample and the standard using the following equations:

∆L* = L*sample - L*standard

positive ∆L* means, the sample is lighter than the standard
negative ∆L* means, the sample is darker than the standard

∆u* = u*sample - u*standard

positive ∆a* means, the sample is redder than the standard
negative ∆a* means, the sample is greener than the standard

∆u* = u*sample - u*standard

positive ∆u* means, the sample is yellower than the standard
negative ∆u* means, the sample is bluer than the standard

In addition, there are two other delta values that are related to this scale, ∆C* and ∆H*. The ∆C* is the difference in chroma between the sample and standard as described in a polar coordinate system. The ∆H* is the difference in hue angle between the sample and standard as described in a polar coordinate system.

∆C* = C*sample - C*standard

where

(this is called metric chroma)

References

SEII EM-MI - The theory of color

The free dictionary.com

HunterLab