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Beschreibung

With the move of cinema away from film, the adoption of electronic-based production throughout all media is now complete. In order to exploit its advantages, the accurate definition, measurement and reproduction of colour has become more important than ever to achieve the best fidelity of colour reproduction.

This book is concerned with providing readers with all they need to know about colour: how it is perceived and described, how it is measured and generated and how it is reproduced in colour systems. It serves as both a tutorial and a reference book, defining what we mean by colour and providing an explanation of the proper derivation of chromaticity charts and through to the means of ensuring accurate colour management.

Key Features:

  • Addresses important theory and common misconceptions in colour science and reproduction, from the perception and characteristics of colour to the practicalities of its rendering in the fields of television, photography and cinematography
  • Offers a clear treatment of the CIE chromaticity charts and their related calculations, supporting discussion on system primaries, their colour gamuts and the derivation of their contingent red, green and blue camera spectral sensitivities
  • Reviews the next state-of-the-art developments in colour reproduction beyond current solutions, from Ultra-High Definition Television for the 2020s to laser projectors with unprecedented colour range for the digital cinema
  • Includes a companion website hosting a workbook consisting of invaluable macro-enabled data worksheets; JPEG files containing images referred to in the book, including colour bars and grey scale charts to establish perceived contrast range under different environmental conditions; and, guides to both the workbook and JPEG files

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COLOUR REPRODUCTION IN ELECTRONIC IMAGING SYSTEMS

PHOTOGRAPHY, TELEVISION, CINEMATOGRAPHY

Michael S Tooms

Principal Consultant, MTA, UK

This edition first published 2016

© 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd

Registered officeJohn Wiley & Sons Ltd, The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, United Kingdom

For details of our global editorial offices, for customer services and for information about how to apply for permission to reuse the copyright material in this book please see our website at www.wiley.com.

The right of the author to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher.

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Designations used by companies to distinguish their products are often claimed as trademarks. All brand names and product names used in this book are trade names, service marks, trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. The publisher is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. It is sold on the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering professional services and neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom. If professional advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Tooms, Michael S.  Colour reproduction in electronic imaging systems : photography, television, cinematography / Michael S Tooms.   pages cm  Includes bibliographical references and index.  ISBN 978-1-119-02176-6 (cloth)  1. Color display systems. 2. Color television. 3. Color cinematography--Equipment and supplies. 4. Color photography--Digital techniques. 5. Color sensitometry (Photography) I. Title. II. Title: Color reproduction in electronic imaging systems.  TK6670.T66 2016  621.382--dc23

2015019419

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN: 9781119021766

CONTENTS

Preface

Acknowledgements

Notes

About the Companion Website

Introductions

The Book

The Colour Reproduction Workbook

Part 1: Colour – Perception, Characteristics and Definition

Introduction

1: The Perception of Colour

1.1 Introduction

1.2 Setting the Scene

1.3 Characterising the Responses of the Eye to Light

1.4 The Three Characteristics of the Eye Relevant to Reproduction

1.5 The Quantitative Response or Tonal Range of the Eye

1.6 The Qualitative Response of the Eye

Notes

2: Mapping, Mixing and Categorising Colours

2.1 Primary Colours

2.2 Colour Mixing

2.3 Colour in Three Dimensions

2.4 Colour Terminology

2.5 Categorising Colours

2.6 The Effects of Illumination on the Perception of Colour

Notes

Part 2: The Measurement and Generation of Colour

Introduction

3: A Practical Approach to the Measurement of Colour

3.1 The Fundamentals of Colour Measurement

3.2 Colour Matching Functions

3.3 Measuring Colour with the CMFs

3.4 Chromaticity Diagrams

Notes

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

4.1 Limitations of the Fundamental Approach to Colour Measurement

4.2 The CIE

4.3 The CIE 1931 Standard Observer

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

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

4.6 The CIE 1976 UCS Diagram

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

4.8 Surface Colours within the LUV Colour Space

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

Notes

5: Colour Measurement and Perception

5.1 Chromatic Adaptation

5.2 Metermerism

5.3 Quantifying Chromatic Adaptation

6: Generating Coloured Light

6.1 Introduction

6.2 The Physics of Light Generation

6.3 Incandescence: Light from Heat – Blackbody or Planckian Radiation

6.4 Colour Temperature

6.5 Luminescence

6.6 Electroluminescence

6.7 Fluorescence

Notes

Part 3: The Concepts of Colour Reproduction

Introduction

7: Sources of Illumination

7.1 Overview

7.2 Illuminant Colour Rendering Quality

7.3 Daylight

7.4 Incandescent-based Lamps

7.5 Electrical Discharge-based Lamps

7.6 LED Lamps

7.7 Summary of Sources of Illumination

Notes

8: The Essential Elements of Colour Reproduction

8.1 The Basic Reproduction System

8.2 The Camera

8.3 Display Devices

8.4 Reconciling Minimum Image Resolution with Maximum Perceivable Resolution

Notes

9: Colorimetry in Colour Reproduction

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

9.2 The Choice of Reproduction Display Primaries

9.3 Derivation of Colour Reproduction System Camera Spectral Sensitivities

Notes

10: Appraising the Reproduced Image

10.1 Introduction

10.2 The Environmental Lighting

10.3 Reflections from the Display

10.4 Image Size

10.5 Managing the Viewing Environment

10.6 System Design Parameters

Part 4: The Fundamentals of Colour Reproduction

Introduction

Note

11: System White and White Balance

11.1 System Reference White

11.2 White Balance

11.3 Adapting to Scenes with Different Illuminant SPDs

12: Colorimetric Processing

12.1 Introduction

12.2 Manipulating the Colour Space – Chromaticity Gamut Transformation

12.3 Gamut Mapping

12.4 A Colorimetrically Ideal Set of Camera Spectral Sensitivities

12.5 An Ideal Media Neutral Colour Reproduction System

12.6 Using System Primaries or Device-Independent Encoding

Notes

13: Preserving Tonal Relationships – Tone Reproduction and Contrast Laws

13.1 Introduction

13.2 Terms and Definitions

13.3 Contrast Ranges

13.4 Gamma Correction

13.5 Standard or Reference Displays

13.6 Masking Artefacts

13.7 Matching the Contrast Law to the Viewing Environment

13.8 Overall Opto-electro Transfer Characteristics in Actual Reproduction Systems

13.9 Producing a Greyscale Test Chart

Notes

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

14.1 Introduction

14.2 The Imperatives for Encoding RGB Colour Signals

14.3 System Compatibility and Retention of Colour Balance

14.4 A Simple Constant Luminance Encoding System

14.5 Exploiting the Spatial Characteristics of the Eye

14.6 A Practical Constant Luminance System

14.7 A Non-Constant Luminance System

14.8 The Ramifications of the Failure of Constant Luminance

Notes

15: Specifying a Colour Reproduction System

15.1 Introduction

15.2 Deriving the Specifications

15.3 A Representative Closed Colour Reproduction System Specification

Part 5: The Practicalities of Colour Reproduction – Television, Photography and Cinematography

Introduction

Part 5A: Colour Reproduction in Television

Introduction

16: The Television System and the Image Capture Operation

16.1 The Television System Workflow

16.2 The Television System Signal Path

16.3 The Television Standards Organisations

Notes

17: A Brief History of Colour in Television

17.1 The Beginnings

17.2 The NTSC, PAL and SECAM Colour Television Systems

17.3 The Introduction of Digital Television

17.4 The Rise of High Definition Television

Notes

18: Lighting for Colour Television in the 2010s

18.1 Background

18.2 The EBU Television Lighting Consistency Index – 2012

18.3 The ColorChecker Chart

18.4 The TLCI Standard Television Reproduction System Model

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

18.6 Measuring the TLCI of Luminaires (EBU Tech 3355)

Notes

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

19.1 The High Definition System Specification

19.2 Evaluating the Performance of the HDTV System

19.3 Appraisal of the Rec 709 Recommendation

Notes

20: Colour in Television in the 2020s

20.1 The Potential for Improved Colour Reproduction

20.2 Colour Specification of a Practical Ideal Colour Television System

20.3 Acknowledging the Requirement to Expand the Colour Gamut

20.4 UHDTV – The ITU-R BT.2020 Recommendation

Notes

21: Colour Management in Television

21.1 Introduction

21.2 Scene Illumination

21.3 The Vision Control Operation

21.4 The Vision Control Room Environment

21.5 The Line-up Operation

21.6 Capturing the Scene

21.7 Displaying the Image

Notes

Part 5B: Colour Reproduction in Photography

Introduction

22: An Overview of the Photographic System and Its Workflow

22.1 Introduction

22.2 An Overview of the Workflow

22.3 The Requirement for Technical Standards in Photography

Notes

23: The Printing Process

23.1 Introduction

23.2 Conceptual Considerations in Photographic Printer Design

23.3 Colour Fundamentals in Printing

23.4 Deriving a Model for Colour Half-tone Printing

23.5 Practical Printer Performance

23.6 Conclusions

Notes

24: Colour Spaces in Photography

24.1 Introduction

24.2 Colour Spaces in Image Capture

24.3 Colour Spaces in the Computer

24.4 Colour Spaces in Displays

24.5 Printer Colour Spaces

24.6 Conclusions

Notes

25: Component and File Formats

25.1 Introduction

25.2 A Review of Component Formats

25.3 File Formats

Notes

26: Appraising the Rendered Image

26.1 Introduction

26.2 The Monitor and its Environment

26.3 Reference Conditions

26.4 Conditions for Appraising and Comparing Images – ISO 3664

26.5 Colour Proofing

26.6 Displays and Viewing Conditions for Colour Proofing – ISO 12646:2008

26.7 Summary

Notes

27: Colour Management in the Workflow Infrastructure

27.1 Introduction to Colour Management

27.2 Establishing the Requirements of a Colour Management Infrastructure Strategy

27.3 The International Colour Consortium

27.4 The ICC System in Practice

27.5 Summary

Notes

28: Colour Management in Equipment and Scene Capture

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

28.2 The Exercise of Matching Scene, Display and Print

28.3 The Matching Tests

28.4 Image Capture

Notes

29: Colour Management in the Desktop Workflow

29.1 Introduction

29.2 Establishing the Desktop Working Practice Colour Management Parameters

29.3 Image Preview

29.4 Colour Managing Raw Files

29.5 Matching the Display to the Scene

29.6 Previewing the Soft Proof

29.7 Matching the Print to the Display and the Scene

29.8 Summary of Activities to Assist in Obtaining Good Colour Reproduction

Notes

30: Colour Management by Profile Maintenance

30.1 The Requirement to Incorporate New Profiles

30.2 Preparing to Generate a Profile

30.3 Generating Profiles

Part 5C: Colour Reproduction in Digital Cinematography

Introduction

Acronyms

31: The Evolution of Digital Cinema

31.1 Background

31.2 Workflow at Project Commencement

31.3 Common Goals of the Specifications

31.4 The Digital Cinematographic Systems Specifications

Notes

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

32.1 Introduction

32.2 System Definition

32.3 The ACES Colour Space

32.4 Reference Input Capture Device (RICD)

32.5 The Input Device Transform

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

32.7 The Reference Rendering Transform

32.8 The Reference Display and Review Room

32.9 The IIF Output Device Transforms (ODT)

32.10 Colour Management in Production and Post

Notes

33: Colour in the Cinema – The Digital Cinema System

33.1 Introduction

33.2 System Requirements

33.3 Image Structure

33.4 The D-Cinema Encoding Colour Space

33.5 DCDM Interfaces

33.6 Distribution

34: Colour in Cinematography in the 2010s

34.1 Progress in Adopting the Digital Specifications

34.2 The ACES in the 2010s

34.3 Production and Post — System Configuration and Workflows

Notes

Appendices

A: Photometric Units

A.1 The Physical Aspects of Light

A.2 Power in a Three-Dimensional Environment

A.3 A Useful Theoretical Source of White Light

A.4 The Physiological Aspects of Light

A.5 Photometry

Note

B: The CIE XYZ Primaries

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

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

Note

C: The Bradford Colour Adaptation Transform

C.1 The Standard Bradford Transform

C.2 The Linear or Simplified Bradford Transform

D: The Semiconductor Junction

E: Light Amplification in Lasers

E.1 Boltzmann Distributions and Thermal Equilibrium

E.2 The Interaction of Light with Matter

E.3 Selection Rules

E.4 Creating a Population Inversion

E.5 Three-Level Lasers

E.6 Four-Level Lasers

F: Deriving Camera Spectral Sensitivities

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

G: Chromaticity Gamut Transformation

G.1 Introduction

G.2 Procedure

Note

H: Deriving the Standard Formula for Gamma Correction

H.1 General

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

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

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

H.5 Practical Calculations

I: CIE Colour Matching Functions

I.1 Values for a 2 Degree Field

J: Guide to the ‘Colour Reproduction Workbook’

J.1 Introduction

J.2 Structure of the Workbook

J.3 Some General Guidance on Using the Worksheets

J.4 The Data Worksheets

J.5 The Chapter Worksheets

References

Index

EULA

List of Tables

Chapter 2

Table 2.1

Chapter 5

Table 5.1

Table 5.2

Chapter 7

Table 7.1

Table 7.2

Table 7.3

Table 7.4

Table 7.5

Chapter 9

Table 9.1

Chapter 11

Table 11.1

Chapter 12

Table 12.1

Table 12.2

Table 12.3

Table 12.4

Table 12.5

Table 12.6

Chapter 13

Table 13.1

Table 13.2

Table 13.3

Table 13.4

Chapter 14

Table 14.1

Table 14.2

Chapter 15

Table 15.1

Table 15.2

Table 15.3

Table 15.4

Table 15.5

Chapter 17

Table 17.1

Table 17.2

Table 17.3

Table 17.4

Chapter 18

Table 18.1

Table 18.2

Table 18.3

Table 18.4

Chapter 19

Table 19.1

Table 19.2

Table 19.3

Table 19.4

Table 19.5

Table 19.6

Table 19.7

Table 19.8

Table 19.9

Table 19.10

Chapter 20

Table 20.1

Table 20.2

Table 20.3

Table 20.4

Table 20.5

Table 20.6

Chapter 21

Table 21.1

Chapter 24

Table 24.1

Table 24.2

Table 24.3

Table 24.4

Table 24.5

Table 24.6

Table 24.7

Table 24.8

Table 24.9

Table 24.10

Table 24.11

Chapter 25

Table 25.1

Chapter 28

Table 28.1

Chapter 29

Table 29.1

Chapter 30

Table 30.1

Table 30.2

Part 5C

Table 31.0

Chapter 32

Table 32.1

Table 32.2

Table 32.3

Table 32.4

Table 32.5

Table 32.6

Table 32.7

Table 32.8

Chapter 33

Table 33.1

Table 33.2

Table 33.3

Table 33.4

Table 33.5

Table 33.6

Table 33.7

Chapter 34

Table 34.1

Table 34.2

Table 34.3

Table 34.4

Table 34.5

Table 34.6

Appendix A

Table A.1

Guide

Cover

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Preface

Many excellent books are available which deal in one way or another with image reproduction, either generically for example across photography or television, or in a more specialist manner for a particular technology such as digital television. Invariably colour is discussed as an integral part of the reproduction process, often as an adjunct to the technology of the media being covered. However, few books leave the reader who is specifically interested in the reproduction of colour entirely happy that the colour reproduction process has been fully understood at a fundamental level.

Often the more obscure elements of colorimetry are glossed over, which is fine for those who require only a superficial understanding in this area but is frustrating for those who need to understand fully the derivation and interpretation of the various chromaticity diagrams in use. In contrast, the aim of this book is to cover comprehensively the complete process of colour reproduction from capturing the scene to rendering the final image, whether it be in the form of a display or a print. Emphasis is placed on the analysis and processing of the colour components, rather than the technology associated with generating and conveying the components representing the original image from the camera to the point where the image is rendered.

Nevertheless, aspects of colorimetry, such as the derivation of the CIE1 x,y chromaticity diagram, for example, are fundamentally quite mathematical. So in order not to detract from the flow of the text, the development of the subject is described in a heuristic manner and the supporting mathematics are constrained to the appendices for those who wish to grasp the complete picture at a deeper fundamental level.

The material for this book evolved initially from notes used to support the ‘Television Image Formation, Analysis and Reproduction’ lecture given by the author in a series of annual engineering lectures for the Royal Television Society (RTS) and subsequently developed into a chapter for the planned RTS book on television engineering. He was also able to build upon the material used more recently in a presentation to the Image Science Section of The Royal Photographic Society on colour management as a means of achieving accurate colour reproduction in photography. As a member of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), he has watched with interest his colleagues driving the evolution of international standards for colour reproduction in digital cinematography and has drawn upon this material for the part dealing with this topic; this step completed the transformation of the three major picture media systems: television, photography and cinematography to electronic-based systems.

In recent years, electronic image reproduction has made tremendous strides not only in television, to embrace digital, high definition and 3D television, but also by expanding into photography and latterly into ‘digital cinema’, where digital cameras have virtually replaced film at the shooting stage and digital large screen projectors have become the norm in most cinemas. Despite these advances, the fidelity of colour reproduction continues to have limitations and there remain enticing approaches to extending the range of colours which may be reproduced as described in the book.

The book sets out to provide an in-depth analysis of colour, its measurement and its reproduction at a fundamental level before going on to provide a comprehensive coverage of its application in uniquely different ways to television, photography and cinematography, respectively.

The application of colour reproduction theory to practical systems is addressed from a historical perspective, since the application of electronics to each media system has always been built on the technology developed for digitising the previous media. Much of the groundwork of applying the then relatively new understanding and standardisation of colour analysis and measurement of the 1930s, through the work of the CIE, was brought to bear by the members of the National Television System Committee (NTSC) of the United States in the early 1950s, when the first practical colour television system was introduced. The European television systems (Phase Alternating Line (PAL) and Sequential Colour with Memory (SECAM)) which followed in the 1960s were essentially based upon the same colour fundamentals. However, they differed from the earlier system in that they evolved methods of encoding the colour signals for transmission that were less prone to the effects of the distortions apparent in the electronic systems of the day, which in its early days had given the NTSC system a poor reputation.

In electronic terms, these pioneer colour television systems reigned supreme for some 40 years before developments in technology in the 1980/90s gave rise to the possibility of adopting a new world-wide standard for television which included a tightening up of the standards associated with the specifications for colour reproduction. Some would claim the opportunity was missed at that time to introduce standards which would embrace developments in colour reproduction which had already been foreseen, and are now waiting on the side-lines for the opportunity to come to the fore.

During broadly the same period of the early 1990s, these developments also saw the evolution of the standardisation of digital video signals, the JPEG digital compression system and cost-effective solid-state image sensors, making practical digital stills cameras available at increasingly affordable prices for general consumer use. Finally in the early 2000s, with the adaptation of specialised television cameras of high resolution for recording sequences for the cinema, and the availability of suitably bright and high-resolution projectors, the way was open in the late 2000s for experts within the cinematographic standards bodies2 to set the colour specifications for the digital cinema. Part 5 of this book describes that journey in terms of the colour techniques and specifications adopted by each of the three media: television, photography and cinematography.

Acknowledgements

Without the encouragement I have been fortunate enough to receive from so many people, I would not have been in a position to write this book. I am resolved therefore to acknowledge not only those who have assisted me in preparing the book but also those who in one way or another have encouraged my interest and enthusiasm for colour from the beginning, albeit that some are no longer with us.

It was evident to me as a young child that my interest in the exciting range of colours around me went well beyond the norm of those in my circle of family and friends, with the possible exception of my mother who did her best to assist me with the difficult topic of colour naming. I remember well one particular, rather unusual colour that when questioning was told it was ‘cerise’.

My formal introduction to colour came whilst serving as a radar technician in the RAF when I selected as a birthday present, John W. Wentworth's book ‘Colour Television Engineering’. This was read avidly during the plentiful non-shift time available and became my bible for many years; I am much indebted to the author for dealing so comprehensively and insightfully with colour measurement and its application to reproduction.

Subsequently, when working for EMI at the time of the introduction of their NTSC encoder, I was grateful to its designer, David Kent, for his patient detailed explanations of the workings of each of the several unique circuits of which it was comprised.

I joined ABC Television in the United Kingdom at a time when broadcasters were experimenting with colour television and Michael Cox was leading the work there on the SECAM system. Eventually it became clear that the PAL system developed under the leadership of Dr. Bruch in Germany was to be the likely choice of system for the United Kingdom and at that time I began to work for Mike who taught me a lot as I ‘bread-boarded’ an experimental PAL encoder whilst he tackled the more difficult decoder.