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From: jbm@aurora.UUCP (Jeffrey Mulligan)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics
Subject: Re: Frequency distributions of red, green, and blue.
Message-ID: <551@aurora.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 21-Nov-86 19:59:32 EST
Article-I.D.: aurora.551
Posted: Fri Nov 21 19:59:32 1986
Date-Received: Fri, 21-Nov-86 22:49:20 EST
References: <647@husc6.HARVARD.EDU>
Organization: NASA Ames Research Center, Mt. View, Ca.
Lines: 21

> 
> Does anyone have know (or have references to) the exact frequency profiles of
> red, green, and blue phosphorous on a color monitor, red, green, and blue
> film, and the red, green, and blue receptors in a person's eye?  I realize
> that the characteristics of a color screen and film may vary with the brand, so

The book "Color Science" by Wyszecki and Stiles is pretty much the
"bible" of color vision; it contains, among other things, the action
spectra of the three cone mechanisms.  For many purposes, it is
more convenient to describe a color by its effect on the cones rather
than by the complete spectrum, since many different spectral distributions
will be visually indistinguishable ("metameric matches").  The
most commonly used system is CIE (a French acronym for the society
that maintains the standard).  Some manufacturers (such as Tektronix)
give the CIE coordinates of the various phosphor options along
with the other monitor specs; unfortunately, this is not true of many
other monitors.  To make matters worse, knowing the phosphor chromaticities
does not tell you what you will get when you drive the red GUN,
unless the purity adjustment is *perfect*.

Jeff Mulligan