Spectrophotometers are a commonly used tool and valuable technology for colour measurement. Companies that purchase colour measurement equipment can measure the tristimulus values of their sample on the CIE colour model.
What Are Tristimulus Values?
The Commission Internationale de l'éclairage (CIE) colour model is a colour space model that accurately represents every colour perceivable to the human eye. The CIE colour model plots tristimulus values on a 3D space, which creates a unique colour when combined.
Tristimulus values are the CIE reference stimuli in a trichromatic system that mimics human colour perception. They are essential for colour language because these measurements communicate precise colour values without human subjectivity.
This system instrumentally determines the amount of red, green, and blue stimuli under standardized conditions to mimic how the human eye sees. The three values can be expressed as X, Y, and Z coordinates on a graph. The Y value represents the sample's luminance, and together, they represent the sample's colour.
With the CIE colour model, colours can be accurately expressed, communicated, and reproduced.
