Influence of a holistic color interval on color harmony

This study investigates how a holistic color interval i.e. the nondirection al color difference between a pair of colors in a CIELAB uniform color spac e, influences perceived color harmony. A set of 1035 test color pairs displ ayed on a CRT was evaluated for the degree of harmony. These test color yea rs consist of pairs combined from among the selected 46 test colors evenly distributed in color space. The subjects were asked to select their three p referred colors from these 46 test colors and then to evaluate the degree o f harmony of the test color combinations. The color intervals (DeltaE(ab)*) of each test color combination were calculated and treated as values of a independent variable. In addition, the evaluated degrees of color harmony w ere considered as values of a dependent variable, in which statistical anal ysis confirmed the relationship: the degree of harmony is a cubic function of the color interval. Moreover; the plot of this relationship allowed us t o identify four color intervals: roughly corresponding to the regions of fi rst ambiguity, similarity, second ambiguity, and contrast in Moon and Spenc er's model. However, our results indicated that Moon and Spencer's principl es for classifying harmonious/disharmonious regions in ten,ls of the color interval for three color attributes-lightness, chroma and hue-may be inappr opriate in predicting perceived color harmony. As for the color intervals b etween a pair of colors considered as a function of the three attributes, t he interval for lightness may have a predominant effect on color harmony, e xpressed in terms of a cubic relationship Results of the study further demo nstrated that the subject's choice of colors significantly influences perce ived color harmony. (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.