Color Communication in a Digital World

Traci May-Plumlee

With thanks to David Hinks, Associate Professor, College of Textiles, NCSU for his assistance with this article.

Perception of color is a complex phenomenon. The color that we see when we look at an object is affected by the light source, the object’s surface qualities, and our own color perception abilities. In addition, colors carry a variety of emotional and psychological connotations that influence our perceptions. To complicate matters even further, our perception of a single color can change depending on the other colors that surround it. Consequently, color communication along the textile product supply is an ongoing challenge. Digital measurement and electronic communication of color information can greatly improve the efficiency of the supply chain and the ability of industry firms to manage color successfully in a global environment.

Much work has been done, and continues to be done, in the field of color communication in the NCSU College of Textiles Color Science Laboratory under the direction of David Hinks. Dr. Hinks, his research team and students work closely with the AATCC Committee RA 36: Color Communication, Measurement and Testing, as well as a number of suppliers of color measurement technology for the industry, in developing new test methods and standards for working with color. In both graduate and undergraduate color science courses students pursue team based projects targeted at understanding the relationships among visual color assessment techniques, digital color measurement and color models. Results of these projects are often shared with industry via conference presentations. For example, at the 2003 AATCC Conference a NCSU textile chemistry major presented results of a study on the variability of spectrophotometric measurements of color.

Research is also being conducted using DigiEye, a new digital imaging system for assessing color. With the DigiEye system, visual color information is captured with a digital camera and then converted to color space coordinates. NCSU researchers are studying the potential of the system for measuring staining, a textile colorfastness attribute typically assessed visually in most of the industry.

Datacolor, an industry firm offering computerized systems for color measuring, matching, quality control and communication has supported color related research and education at NCSU. Datacolor donated a spectrophotometer, software, and autodispersing equipment used by students and faculty in the Color Science Laboratory, and also supports the Lab through the provision of technical expertise.

Researchers from NCSU will be participating in ISO meetings in July in Barcelona, Spain. At these meetings, they will be discussing the work on color staining that has been completed using the DigiEye technology. In addition, they will lead initial discussions on work initiated this year under a new National Textile Center project. The scope of the project involves improving color control in the supply chain using an approach that entails determining how much variability in color is discernable to observers and on understanding how that discrimination ability relates to digital color measurement.

College of Textiles
P.O. Box 8301
Raleigh, NC 27695-8301
Telephone: (919) 515-6646
FAX: (919) 515-3733
JTATM Privacy Policy

Last Site Revision:
May 5, 2004