Colour Reproduction in Electronic Imaging Systems

Michael S. Tooms has had a career in the television industry spanning 45 years, from operations and design to senior and project management roles. He was responsible for the conception, outline, design and project management of a number of multi-million pound television centre projects, most notably working for Granada Television, TV3 Scansat, ITV, Wharf Cable, BT and Spectrum Consultants/Siemens among others. He has served on  industry standards committees  responsible for developing new television system specifications and lectured on colour reproduction for the Royal Television Society, the Royal Photographic Society and the British Kinematograph Sound and Television Society. He represented ITV on the EBU Colour Primaries committee and was a founding member of the UK Independent Broadcast Authority’s Quality Control Section, a body that was concerned with classifying and regulating colour reproduction standards in broadcasting.

Preface xiii

Acknowledgements xv

About the Companion Website xix

Introductions xxi

The Book xxi

The Colour Reproduction Workbook xxii

Part One Colour – Perception, Characteristics and Definition 1

1 The Perception of Colour 3

1.1 Introduction 3

1.2 Setting the Scene 3

1.3 Characterising the Responses of the Eye to Light 8

1.4 The Three Characteristics of the Eye Relevant to Reproduction 10

1.5 The Quantitative Response or Tonal Range of the Eye 10

1.6 The Qualitative Response of the Eye 13

2 Mapping, Mixing and Categorising Colours 19

2.1 Primary Colours 19

2.2 Colour Mixing 31

2.3 Colour in Three Dimensions 34

2.4 Colour Terminology 37

2.5 Categorising Colours 38

2.6 The Effects of Illumination on the Perception of Colour 42

Part Two the Measurement and Generation of Colour 43

3 A Practical Approach to the Measurement of Colour 45

3.1 The Fundamentals of Colour Measurement 45

3.2 Colour Matching Functions 46

3.3 Measuring Colour with the CMFs 51

3.4 Chromaticity Diagrams 52

4 Colour Measurement Standardisation – The CIE System of Colour Measurement 61

4.1 Limitations of the Fundamental Approach to Colour Measurement 61

4.2 The CIE 61

4.3 The CIE 1931 Standard Observer 62

4.4 The CIE 1931 X, Y, Z System of Colour Measurement 64

4.5 Transforming the CIE X, Y, Z Parameters to Perceptually Related Parameters 72

4.6 The CIE 1976 UCS Diagram 72

4.7 The CIE 1976 (L*, u*, v*) Colour Space 76

4.8 Surface Colours within the LUV Colour Space 84

4.9 Limitations of the LUV Colour Space as an Accurate Colour Appearance Model 91

5 Colour Measurement and Perception 97

5.1 Chromatic Adaptation 97

5.2 Metermerism 98

5.3 Quantifying Chromatic Adaptation 102

6 Generating Coloured Light 105

6.1 Introduction 105

6.2 The Physics of Light Generation 105

6.3 Incandescence: Light from Heat – Blackbody or Planckian Radiation 106

6.4 Colour Temperature 111

6.5 Luminescence 113

6.6 Electroluminescence 114

6.7 Fluorescence 126

Part Three The Concepts of Colour Reproduction 131

7 Sources of Illumination 133

7.1 Overview 133

7.2 Illuminant Colour Rendering Quality 134

7.3 Daylight 143

7.4 Incandescent-based Lamps 148

7.5 Electrical Discharge-based Lamps 150

7.6 LED Lamps 155

7.7 Summary of Sources of Illumination 158

8 The Essential Elements of Colour Reproduction 161

8.1 The Basic Reproduction System 161

8.2 The Camera 162

8.3 Display Devices 165

8.4 Reconciling Minimum Image Resolution with Maximum Perceivable Resolution 171

9 Colorimetry in Colour Reproduction 175

9.1 The Relationship between the Display Primaries and the Camera Spectral Sensitivities 175

9.2 The Choice of Reproduction Display Primaries 177

9.3 Derivation of Colour Reproduction System Camera Spectral Sensitivities 181

10 Appraising the Reproduced Image 185

10.1 Introduction 185

10.2 The Environmental Lighting 186

10.3 Reflections from the Display 187

10.4 Image Size 187

10.5 Managing the Viewing Environment 187

10.6 System Design Parameters 188

Part Four The Fundamentals of Colour Reproduction 189

11 System White and White Balance 193

11.1 System Reference White 193

11.2 White Balance 195

11.3 Adapting to Scenes with Different Illuminant SPDs 200

12 Colorimetric Processing 203

12.1 Introduction 203

12.2 Manipulating the Colour Space – Chromaticity Gamut Transformation 205

12.3 Gamut Mapping 213

12.4 A Colorimetrically Ideal Set of Camera Spectral Sensitivities 216

12.5 An Ideal Media Neutral Colour Reproduction System 222

12.6 Using System Primaries or Device-Independent Encoding 223

13 Preserving Tonal Relationships – Tone Reproduction and Contrast Laws 225

13.1 Introduction 225

13.2 Terms and Definitions 226

13.3 Contrast Ranges 229

13.4 Gamma Correction 238

13.5 Standard or Reference Displays 251

13.6 Masking Artefacts 252

13.7 Matching the Contrast Law to the Viewing Environment 257

13.8 Overall Opto-electro Transfer Characteristics in Actual Reproduction Systems 260

13.9 Producing a Greyscale Test Chart 261

14 Storage and Conveyance of Colour Signals – Encoding Colour Signals 271

14.1 Introduction 271

14.2 The Imperatives for Encoding RGB Colour Signals 272

14.3 System Compatibility and Retention of Colour Balance 275

14.4 A Simple Constant Luminance Encoding System 280

14.5 Exploiting the Spatial Characteristics of the Eye 282

14.6 A Practical Constant Luminance System 283

14.7 A Non-Constant Luminance System 285

14.8 The Ramifications of the Failure of Constant Luminance 287

15 Specifying a Colour Reproduction System 289

15.1 Introduction 289

15.2 Deriving the Specifications 289

15.3 A Representative Closed Colour Reproduction System Specification 291

Part Five The Practicalities of Colour Reproduction – Television, Photography and Cinematography 295

Part Five A Colour Reproduction in Television 299

16 The Television System and the Image Capture Operation 301

16.1 The Television System Workflow 301

16.2 The Television System Signal Path 303

16.3 The Television Standards Organisations 304

17 A Brief History of Colour in Television 307

17.1 The Beginnings 307

17.2 The NTSC, PAL and SECAM Colour Television Systems 309

17.3 The Introduction of Digital Television 324

17.4 The Rise of High Definition Television 329

18 Lighting for Colour Television in the 2010s 331

18.1 Background 331

18.2 The EBU Television Lighting Consistency Index – 2012 332

18.3 The ColorChecker Chart 332

18.4 The TLCI Standard Television Reproduction System Model 333

18.5 Selecting a Colour Metric for the TLCI (EBU Tech 3354) 337

18.6 Measuring the TLCI of Luminaires (EBU Tech 3355) 338

19 Colour in Television in the 2010s – The High Definition Colour Television System 341

19.1 The High Definition System Specification 341

19.2 Evaluating the Performance of the HDTV System 348

19.3 Appraisal of the Rec 709 Recommendation 357

20 Colour in Television in the 2020s 359

20.1 The Potential for Improved Colour Reproduction 359

20.2 Colour Specification of a Practical Ideal Colour Television System 360

20.3 Acknowledging the Requirement to Expand the Colour Gamut 371

20.4 UHDTV – The ITU-R BT.2020 Recommendation 382

21 Colour Management in Television 389

21.1 Introduction 389

21.2 Scene Illumination 390

21.3 The Vision Control Operation 391

21.4 The Vision Control Room Environment 391

21.5 The Line-up Operation 396

21.6 Capturing the Scene 399

21.7 Displaying the Image 401

Part Five B Colour Reproduction in Photography 403

22 An Overview of the Photographic System and Its Workflow 405

22.1 Introduction 405

22.2 An Overview of the Workflow 405

22.3 The Requirement for Technical Standards in Photography 409

23 The Printing Process 413

23.1 Introduction 413

23.2 Conceptual Considerations in Photographic Printer Design 413

23.3 Colour Fundamentals in Printing 416

23.4 Deriving a Model for Colour Half-tone Printing 422

23.5 Practical Printer Performance 425

23.6 Conclusions 437

24 Colour Spaces in Photography 439

24.1 Introduction 439

24.2 Colour Spaces in Image Capture 439

24.3 Colour Spaces in the Computer 449

24.4 Colour Spaces in Displays 454

24.5 Printer Colour Spaces 455

24.6 Conclusions 456

25 Component and File Formats 457

25.1 Introduction 457

25.2 A Review of Component Formats 457

25.3 File Formats 459

26 Appraising the Rendered Image 467

26.1 Introduction 467

26.2 The Monitor and its Environment 467

26.3 Reference Conditions 468

26.4 Conditions for Appraising and Comparing Images – ISO 3664 470

26.5 Colour Proofing 476

26.6 Conditions for Displays for Colour Proofing – ISO 12646:2008 476

26.7 Summary 479

27 Colour Management in the Workflow Infrastructure 483

27.1 Introduction to Colour Management 483

27.2 Establishing the Requirements of a Colour Management Infrastructure Strategy 485

27.3 The International Colour Consortium 487

27.4 The ICC System in Practice 491

27.5 Summary 493

28 Colour Management in Equipment and Scene Capture 495

28.1 Why there is Sometimes a Failure to Match Scene, Display and Print 495

28.2 The Exercise of Matching Scene, Display and Print 496

28.3 The Matching Tests 497

28.4 Image Capture 504

29 Colour Management in the Desktop Workflow 507

29.1 Introduction 507

29.2 Establishing the Desktop Working Practice Colour Management Parameters 509

29.3 Image Preview 522

29.4 Colour Managing Raw Files 524

29.5 Matching the Display to the Scene 526

29.6 Previewing the Soft Proof 539

29.7 Matching the Print to the Display and the Scene 542

29.8 Summary of Activities to Assist in Obtaining Good Colour Reproduction 550

30 Colour Management by Profile Maintenance 551

30.1 The Requirement to Incorporate New Profiles 551

30.2 Preparing to Generate a Profile 552

30.3 Generating Profiles 553

Part Five C Colour Reproduction in Digital Cinematography 559

Acronyms 560

31 The Evolution of Digital Cinema 563

31.1 Background 563

31.2 Workflow at Project Commencement 565

31.3 Common Goals of the Specifications 566

31.4 The Digital Cinematographic Systems Specifications 566

32 Colour in Cinematic Production – The Academy Color Encoding System 569

32.1 Introduction 569

32.2 System Definition 569

32.3 The ACES Colour Space 572

32.4 Reference Input Capture Device (RICD) 576

32.5 The Input Device Transform 578

32.6 An IIF System Configuration for Viewing the Graded Signals Defined in the ACES Colour Space 579

32.7 The Reference Rendering Transform 583

32.8 The Reference Display and Review Room 583

32.9 The IIF Output Device Transforms (ODT) 585

32.10 Colour Management in Production and Post 587

33 Colour in the Cinema – The Digital Cinema System 589

33.1 Introduction 589

33.2 System Requirements 589

33.3 Image Structure 590

33.4 The D-Cinema Encoding Colour Space 590

33.5 DCDM Interfaces 599

33.6 Distribution 601

34 Colour in Cinematography in the 2010s 603

34.1 Progress in Adopting the Digital Specifications 603

34.2 The ACES in the 2010s 604

34.3 Production and Post — System Configuration and Workflows 615

Appendices 629

A Photometric Units 631

A.1 The Physical Aspects of Light 631

A.2 Power in a Three-Dimensional Environment 632

A.3 A Useful Theoretical Source of White Light 634

A 4 The Physiological Aspects of Light 634

A.5 Photometry 636

B The CIE XYZ Primaries 641

B.1 Deriving the Chromaticities of the CIE XYZ Primaries from CIE RGB Primaries 641

B.2 The XYZ Primaries Located on the CIE RGB Primaries Chromaticity Diagram 644

C The Bradford Colour Adaptation Transform 645

C.1 The Standard Bradford Transform 645

C.2 The Linear or Simplified Bradford Transform 647

D The Semiconductor Junction 649

E Light Amplification in Lasers 651

E.1 Boltzmann Distributions and Thermal Equilibrium 651

E.2 The Interaction of Light with Matter 652

E.3 Selection Rules 654

E.4 Creating a Population Inversion 654

E.5 Three-Level Lasers 655

E.6 Four-Level Lasers 656

F Deriving Camera Spectral Sensitivities 659

F.1 General Solution for Deriving the Camera Spectral Sensitivities from the Chromaticity Coordinates of the Display Primaries in Terms of the CIE Colour Matching Functions 659

G Chromaticity Gamut Transformation 661

G.1 Introduction 661

G.2 Procedure 661

H Deriving the Standard Formula for Gamma Correction 667

H.1 General 667

H.2 Establishing the Gamma Correction Parameters for the General Situation 668

H.3 Calculating the Gamma Correction Parameters for a Particular Situation 670

H.4 Specifying the Opto-Digital Transfer Characteristic of a Colour Reproduction System 671

H.5 Practical Calculations 671

I CIE Colour Matching Functions 673

I.1 Values for a 2 Degree Field 673

J Guide to the ‘Colour Reproduction Workbook’ 677

J.1 Introduction 677

J.2 Structure of the Workbook 677

J.3 Some General Guidance on Using the Worksheets 678

J.4 The Data Worksheets 679

J.5 The Chapter Worksheets 682

References 693

Index 697