The Human Eye, White Balance and Color Balancing

[xpatUSA]

In the literature we are told how we usually perceive a white object as white in spite of the lighting conditions. Therefore, we dutifully set our camera WB preset the closest that we can to the ambient light and expect to perhaps make a final 'color correction' in post.

We are also told that a late evening shot (twilight) will not look quite right if perfectly color-corrected in post.

Today I was shooting a target on the wall to check a camera's focusing. The target was lit by a LED strip-light of the warm variety - for which I normally set Incandescent WB in-camera. After clicking on a gray area with the color-correction picker, it obligingly went gray. So far so good . . until, out of curiosity, I glanced at the wall and back at monitor and observed that wall-paneling colors were different!

Intrigued, I went back to the on-screen review image and tried various WB settings followed by the color-picker each time:



It was quite a surprise to note that the 'Shade' preset was the nearest - along with a really big color correction before the paneling on my screen looked about the same as that on the actual wall!

I'm not trying to say anything new here but was pleased to be able to illustrate one of the caveats often associated with "funny" lighting.

[dje]

Interesting Ted, a timely reminder of the complexities of White Balance and the spectrums (spectrii?) of artificial light sources. You mention the human eye in your title - I wonder what happens with folk who suffer from some form of "colour blindness"?

Dave

[Cogito]

There is of course a caveat - how your monitor is set up

[William W]

There is of course a caveat - how your monitor is set up

. . . and mine and yours, too.

[xpatUSA]

Interesting Ted, a timely reminder of the complexities of White Balance and the spectrums (spectrii?) of artificial light sources. You mention the human eye in your title - I wonder what happens with folk who suffer from some form of "colour blindness"?

Dave

Hi Dave,

One could guess that a "color-blind" person would know what "white" is even though it might look sky-blue pink to them and maybe their brain still makes an adjustment to ambient light anyway, I really don't know.

It's "spectra", BTW, a fast vanishing word - like fora, formulae, etc. I blame the Yanks . . .

[William W]

. . . [I] was pleased to be able to illustrate one of the caveats often associated with "funny" lighting.

Yep.

Ta.

I've kept the link to this OP so I can pull it out when asked: "How do I get the correct White Balance?" or "How do I get correct Colour Balance?"

WW

[William W]

. . . a fast vanishing word - like fora, formulae, etc. I blame the Yanks . . .

haha

formulæ

[xpatUSA]

There is of course a caveat - how your monitor is set up

Then, if I were to post my 'adjusted' image, it would likely look wrong on your perfectly calibrated monitor . . .

. . . but only if you knew the true color of my wall-paneling.

My P242W monitor is proudly un-calibrated. Like all NEC IPS LCD MultiSyncs, it is quite acceptable straight out of the box for this non-Pro old man.

[dje]

Hi Dave,

One could guess that a "color-blind" person would know what "white" is even though it might look sky-blue pink to them and maybe their brain still makes an adjustment to ambient light anyway, I really don't know.

It's "spectra", BTW, a fast vanishing word - like fora, formulae, etc. I blame the Yanks . . .

Of course it's "spectra", I was having a mental block

You may well blame the Yanks and they've got you spelling "colour" incorrectly too!

Dave

[xpatUSA]

You may well blame the Yanks and they've got you spelling "colour" incorrectly too!

Dave

Yes, part of my job here was technical writing, so I made a conscious choice to write in 'Merkin and have done so for over 30 years.

When in Rome . . eh?

[Rent]

I have recently had a cataract operation The difference in whites between my right eye and my left is unbelievable I can't wait to get the other done

[ST1]

Slightly off the subject Ted but can I ask where you got your target from it looks good


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[xpatUSA]

Slightly off the subject Ted but can I ask where you got your target from it looks good

The site doesn't appear to sell them any more. I got mine off eBay (USA) and it is by no means perfect for serious work. It's printed in (I think) what they call offset lithographic and you can see the dots under a jeweler's loupe. And the scale numbers look wrong for a US letter size print.

I have two and will be glad to send one for nowt if you PM your address.

[ST1]

The site doesn't appear to sell them any more. I got mine off eBay (USA) and it is by no means perfect for serious work. It's printed in (I think) what they call offset lithographic and you can see the dots under a jeweler's loupe. And the scale numbers look wrong for a US letter size print.

I have two and will be glad to send one for nowt if you PM your address.

That's very kind of you Ted


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