Color matching

Color matching is the process of adjusting one light until it appears the same color as another. It is used to measure how human observers perceive mixtures of light.

CIE 1931 color-m matching functions: Numerical functions describing the amounts of three test lights needed to match monochromatic lights for a standard observer. They record the matches that established a standard quantitative account of color vision.
CIE XYZ color space: A standard color space defined by three tristimulus values derived from human color-matching measurements. It translates standard-observer matches into a coordinate system used across color industries.
Color constancy: The tendency for object colors to appear relatively stable under changes in illumination. Constancy concerns appearance across illuminants, unlike equality between two viewed lights.
Isaac Newton: An English mathematician and natural philosopher whose experiments established that white light contains a spectrum of colors. His prism experiments framed the spectral stimuli later used in matching studies.
Trichromatic theory: The theory that color vision arises from the combined responses of three classes of cone photoreceptors. It explains why three independent light primaries can match many colors.
Colorimetry: The quantitative science of measuring and specifying color in relation to human visual response. Color matching supplies the perceptual basis for its standardized measurements.
Subtractive color: Color formation by selective absorption of light, as in pigments, inks, and filters. It contrasts with the additive light mixtures used in standard matching experiments.
James Clerk Maxwell: A Scottish physicist who developed mathematical accounts of electromagnetism and conducted early quantitative color experiments. His color triangle and mixture experiments helped formalize color matching.
Metamerism: The perception of two lights or surfaces as the same color despite different spectral power distributions. A successful match does not imply that the compared spectra are identical.
Color reproduction: The process of rendering colors from an original scene or image on a display or printed medium. Matching principles guide how limited device primaries reproduce target colors.

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