Synonyms
Definition
Unique hues are unmixed colors without a tint of any other colors. For example, unique yellow is a pure yellow that is not tinged by red or green. There are four unique hues: red, green, blue, and yellow.
Historical View
One can see so many different colors in the environment. And yet there are only four colors that occupy a special place in color perception. They are called unique hues and they originate from the opponent colors theory proposed by Ewald Hering in 1878 [1, 2]. The theory postulates three opponent processes: two chromatic processes of red-green and blue-yellow and one achromatic process of white-black. Unique hues are perceived when one of the two chromatic processes is polarized in one direction and the other is at equilibrium. For instance, one perceives unique red when the red-green process is polarized toward red and the blue-yellow process is at equilibrium. Phenomenologically, one can describe any color he or she sees by a mixture...
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References
Hering, E.: Outlines of a Theory of the Light Sense (Translated by Hurvich, L.M., Jameson, D.) Harvard University Press, Cambridge (1964)
Hurvich, L.M., Jameson, D.: An opponent-process theory of color vision. Psychol. Rev. 64, 384–404 (1957)
Mollon, J.D., Jordan, G.: On the nature of unique hues. In: Dickinson, C., Murray, I., Carden, D. (eds.) John Dalton’s Colour Vision Legacy, pp. 391–403. Taylor and Francis, London (1997)
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Krauskopf, J., Williams, D.R., Heeley, D.W.: Cardinal directions of color space. Vision Res. 22, 1123–1131 (1982)
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Webster, M.A., Kay, P.: Individual and population differences in focal colors. In: MacLaury, R.E., Paramei, G.V., Dedrick, D. (eds.) Anthropology of Color, pp. 29–53. John Banjamins, Amsterdam (2007)
Pokorny, J., Smith, V.C., Wesner, M.: Variability in cone populations and implications. In: Valberg, A., Lee, B.B. (eds.) From Pigments to Perception, pp. 23–34. Plenum, New York (1991)
Pokorny, J., Smith, V.C.: Evaluation of single-pigment shift model of anomalous trichromacy. J. Opt. Soc. Am. 67, 1196–1209 (1977)
Webster, M.A., Webster, S.M., Bharadwaj, S., Verma, R., Jaikumar, J., Madan, G., Vaithilingham, E.: Variations in normal color vision. III. Unique hues in Indian and United States observers. J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 19, 1951–1962 (2002)
Berlin, B., Kay, P.: Basic Color Terms: Their Universality and Evolution. University of California Press, Berkeley (1969)
Kay, P., McDaniel, C.K.: The linguistic significance of the meanings of basic color terms. Language 54, 610–646 (1978)
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Self, E.M. (2013). Unique Hues. In: Luo, R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Color Science and Technology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27851-8_74-14
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27851-8_74-14
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Chapter history
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Latest
Unique Hues- Published:
- 07 October 2014
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27851-8_74-14
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Original
Light Distribution- Published:
- 06 October 2014
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27851-8_130-2