DIN EN ISO 11664-1:2011-07

Colours with different spectral compositions can look alike. An important function of colorimetry is to determine whether a pair of such metameric colours will look alike. The use of visual colorimeters for this purpose is handicapped by variations in the colour matches made amongst observers classified as having normal colour vision. Visual colorimetry also tends to be time-consuming. For these reasons, it has long been the practice in colorimetry to make use of sets of colour-matching functions to calculate tristimulus values for colours: equality of tristimulus values for a pair of colours indicates that the colour appearances of the two colours match, when they are viewed in the same conditions by an observer for whom the colour-matching functions apply. The use of standard sets of colour-matching functions makes the comparison of tristimulus values obtained at different times and locations possible. This International Standard specifies colour-matching functions for use in colorimetry. Two sets of colour-matching functions are specified. a) Colour-matching functions for the CIE 1931 standard colorimetric observer. This set of colour-matching functions is representative of the colour-matching properties of observers with normal colour vision for visual field sizes of angular subtense from about 1° to about 4°, for vision at photopic levels of adaptation. b) Colour-matching functions for the CIE 1964 standard colorimetric observer. This set of colour-matching functions is representative of the colour-matching properties of observers with normal colour vision for visual field sizes of angular subtense greater than about 4°, for vision at sufficiently high photopic levels and with spectral power distributions such that no participation of the rod receptors of the retina is to be expected. The Committee responsible for this standard is NA 025-00-02 GA "Gemeinschaftsarbeitsausschuss FNF/FNL: Farbmetrik" ("Joint Working Committee FNF/FNL: Colometry") of the Colour Standards Committee (FNF).