[OPTICAL REVIEW Vol. 8, No. 5 (2001) 305-314]

An Accurate Characterization of CRT Monitor (I) Verifications of Past Studies and Clarifications of Gamma

Naoya KATOH1,*, Tatsuya DEGUCHI1 Roy S. BERNS2

1PNC Development Center, Sony Corporation, 2-15-3, Konan, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 108-6201 Japan, 2Munsell Color Science Laboratory, Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science, Rochester Institute of Technology, 54 Lomb Memorial Drive, Rochester, NY 14623-5604, USA

(Received October 4, 2000; Accepted April 18, 2001)

CRT monitors are widely used to view images on the Internet. The color images on the computer graphic display can be printed out or displayed on other monitors through the Internet, and color matching between the original and the reproduction is very important. The color management systems (CMSs) are useful for the color matching. CMSs utilize device profiles, in which color characteristic information is stored, and these profiles are generated by device characterization. Thus, an accurate characterization of the monitor is essential for better color matching. CRT monitor characteristics can be described by the tone reproduction curves (TRCs) of each channel, and color additive matrix. In this paper, these characteristics were investigated from a physical point of view. Various kinds of flare and the interdependence among the channels were also investigated and verified. The definition of the term “gamma” is clarified, which is very often used to describe the TRC. Various definitions are compared and a new definition of S-γ is proposed.

Key words : color management, device characterization, CRT monitor, gamma, tone reproduction, viewing flare

naoya@color.sony.co.jp