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COLOR PERCEPTION

المؤلف:  Max M. Houck، Jay A. Siegel

المصدر:  Fundamentals of Forensic Science

الجزء والصفحة:  p397-398

2026-08-16

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COLOR PERCEPTION

The perception of color by a human observer is subject to a variety of factors, such as genetics, age, and environment. The human visual system is complex and adaptive. The phenomenon called simultaneous contrast is the perception of color based on context. As shown in Figure 1, the gray arrow on the left should look to be lighter or darker than the arrow on the right; the gray arrow on the right should look to be lighter or darker than the arrow on the left. In fact, they are the same gray. Humans’ perception of the gray is affected by the background colors of yellow and blue. Another example of contextual color perception is known as the chameleon effect, illustrated in Figure 2. In this effect, colors change based on the surrounding colors. Because of the factors influencing human color perception, any visual comparison, while effective as a first approximation of color, must be checked by an objective method of color measurement.

FIGURE 1 The gray arrow on the left should look to be lighter or darker than the arrow on the right; the gray arrow on the right should look to be lighter or darker than the arrow on the left; in fact, they are the same gray. Humans’ perception of the gray is affected by the background colors of yellow and blue. This phenomenon is called “simultaneous contrast.”

FIGURE 2 This phenomenon is called the “chameleon effect,” where colors change based on the surrounding colors. The red and the green are the same colors in all the graphics.