An observer-metamerism sensitivity index for electronic displays

The effect of observer metamerism induced by electronic displays depends to a large extent on their primary spectra (red, green, and blue in the most common case). In particular, for narrow-band primary spectra whose peak wavelength lies in the range of high variability of the observer's colormatching function, some observers can experience very large differences between actual surface colors (e.g. in a light booth) and displayed colors if the monitor is optimized for the International Commission on Illumination (CIE) 1931 standard observer. However, because narrow-band light-emitting diodes lead to larger color gamuts, more and more monitors with very narrow band primaries are coming onto the market without manufacturers taking into account the associated problem of observer variations. Being able to measure these variations accurately and efficiently is therefore an important objective. In this paper, we propose a new approach to predict the extent of observer metamerism for a particular multiprimary display. Unlike existing dedicated models, ours does not depend on a reference illuminant and a set of reflectance spectra and is computationally more efficient.