3 ms·
Just to clarify why calling it RGB isn't that wrong, for people who don't understand the LMS thing[1]. LMS stands for Long/Medium/Short (wavelength) cones, and
by spoiler 11y ago
Just to clarify why calling it RGB isn't that wrong, for people who don't understand the LMS thing[1].
LMS stands for Long/Medium/Short (wavelength) cones, and I assume most of us know RGB is Red/Green/Blue.
Long cones are responsible for seeing long wavelengths ("λ") of the visible electromagnetic spectre ("EMS") are going towards Red and peak there before fading into infra-red.
Medium cones are responsible for seeing the medium λEMS peak at green, where the Short cones kick in for short λEMS, and they peak at blue.
Some colours are seen when two (or maybe even all three?) cones are simulated: Orange, Yellow, Cyan, Purple, etc.
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[1]: I'm not an expert on the subject, bit I did some research into it because a friend of mine is partially colour blind.
- dietrichepp 11y agoThe reason why I call RGB "wrong" is because the L and M cones both have peak sensitivities to greenish light. So the three cones would be something like "yellowish green" (564-580 nm), "bluish green" (534-545 nm), and "violet" (420-440 nm). It is a common misconception that long cones are mostly sensitive to red. People often say that, but it would be more accurate to say that long and medium cones are both mostly sensitive to green light. At least two cones are usually stimulated, and often all three, even by monochromatic light. Color is perceived by the differences in stimulation between cone types. RGB is a model which allows us to reproduce color, and it is useful because it can be mapped to LMS using a linear transformation. However, RGB is not how we perceive light.