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What kind of physical sensor are you proposing that would give you data like that? I think most ambient light sensors in laptops are just LDRs, which are only c

by robbles 10y ago

What kind of physical sensor are you proposing that would give you data like that? I think most ambient light sensors in laptops are just LDRs, which are only capable of giving you a 1D number.

sillysaurus3 10y ago
I propose that this is a capital-H Hard Problem, and that new technology is needed to address it. I further propose that this technology exists, but is not yet mainstream. The fact that monitors can be calibrated to great accuracy is proof that the tech exists. There is an opportunity here, but to understand this space, you have to dive into it. There are some excellent books on the subject of colorimetery, but a quick bootstrapped understanding might look like: 1. Your eyes are designed to fool you. 2. How your eyes fool you is determined entirely by the photons that enter it. 3. Each of these photons has a wavelength. The more of them at a given wavelength, the more your perception shifts. 4. What you perceive as color is a combination of wavelengths. But -- critically -- these combinations affect each other. It is not true to say that the more photons that arrive at a given wavelength, the more intensely you perceive that wavelength. It causes a shift in your perception, but this shift is not necessarily a simple increase in brightness. These are first principles, and it's a very brief sketch of the problem. But everything else follows from this. What ambient light sensors currently do, how APIs are designed, etc is all secondary. The problem is both as simple and as difficult as outlined above. Now, you can say that this isn't worth tackling, or that the current systems are good enough, and so on. But you'd be missing out on quite an experience. Seeing the type of results you can get from a perfectly calibrated environment is really mindblowing. And the interesting part is, it's impossible for me to describe these results in text, or by showing you a photo, or a video, for the same reason you can't describe an Oculus experience. You have to be there. Personally, I find colorimetry one of the most intellectually fun and gratifying areas of science.

by robbles 10y ago

What kind of physical sensor are you proposing that would give you data like that? I think most ambient light sensors in laptops are just LDRs, which are only capable of giving you a 1D number.

sillysaurus3 10y ago

I propose that this is a capital-H Hard Problem, and that new technology is needed to address it. I further propose that this technology exists, but is not yet mainstream. The fact that monitors can be calibrated to great accuracy is proof that the tech exists. There is an opportunity here, but to understand this space, you have to dive into it. There are some excellent books on the subject of colorimetery, but a quick bootstrapped understanding might look like: 1. Your eyes are designed to fool you. 2. How your eyes fool you is determined entirely by the photons that enter it. 3. Each of these photons has a wavelength. The more of them at a given wavelength, the more your perception shifts. 4. What you perceive as color is a combination of wavelengths. But -- critically -- these combinations affect each other. It is not true to say that the more photons that arrive at a given wavelength, the more intensely you perceive that wavelength. It causes a shift in your perception, but this shift is not necessarily a simple increase in brightness. These are first principles, and it's a very brief sketch of the problem. But everything else follows from this. What ambient light sensors currently do, how APIs are designed, etc is all secondary. The problem is both as simple and as difficult as outlined above. Now, you can say that this isn't worth tackling, or that the current systems are good enough, and so on. But you'd be missing out on quite an experience. Seeing the type of results you can get from a perfectly calibrated environment is really mindblowing. And the interesting part is, it's impossible for me to describe these results in text, or by showing you a photo, or a video, for the same reason you can't describe an Oculus experience. You have to be there. Personally, I find colorimetry one of the most intellectually fun and gratifying areas of science.