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Color in Communication: Color Light Output White Paper

Michael Goldstein, MSG Communications

“Why do two colors, put one next to the other, sing? Can one really explain this? No. Just as one can

never learn how to paint.” Pablo Picasso

Introduction

Pablo Picasso is only one of many who pay tribute to the importance of color. For designers and

purchasers of products like cars, computers, and cell phones, color is a major consideration. Color is a

critical element in the communication of information. According to an American Psychological

Association study, The Contributions of Color to Recognition Memory for Natural Scenes, by hanging an

extra “tag” of data on visual scenes, color helps us to process and store images more efficiently than

colorless (black and white) scenes, and as a result, to remember them better. And when information is

projected in business boardrooms and children’s classrooms around the world, color plays an important

role in getting key messages across.

The data projector market has been in existence for more than two decades, with almost 60 million

projectors sold for use in schools, theaters, homes and businesses. Yet, while superior image quality and

brightness have consistently ranked at the top of buyer’s wish lists, there has been no standardized

specification to measure the color performance of projectors.

Use of color can draw attention to important areas of text, a factor often critical in business and other

presentations. Studies done by the Pantone Color Institute indicate that “consumers are up to 78

percent more likely to remember a word or phrase printed in color than in black and white.” Further,

“When color is combined with the written word, it impacts readers with…greater recall, recognition and

attention.”

Similarly, research conducted by Xerox in 2003 found that among business owners:

 83 percent believe color makes them appear more successful

 81 percent think color gives them a competitive edge

 76 percent believe that the use of color makes their business appear larger to clients

Clearly, with color so important to effective communication, most people don’t need to be sold on the

importance of Color Brightness in projected presentations. Yet while current specifications give

information on brightness (or White Light Output), contrast ratio and resolution, they shed no light on a

projector’s ability to reproduce and project bright, rich and accurate colors. Consumers, even

sophisticated information technology buyers, have not until now had a metric to help them understand

what they can expect their projector to provide in terms of color.

Summary of content (5 pages)

PAGE 1
Color in Communication: Color Light Output White Paper Michael Goldstein, MSG Communications “Why do two colors, put one next to the other, sing? Can one really explain this? No. Just as one can never learn how to paint.” Pablo Picasso Introduction Pablo Picasso is only one of many who pay tribute to the importance of color. For designers and purchasers of products like cars, computers, and cell phones, color is a major consideration. Color is a critical element in the communication of information.
PAGE 2
A World of Color Data projectors are no longer just a simple substitute for the venerable overhead projector, with its black lines and simple charts laid upon a transparency. Yet our thinking about the value of projectors, particularly in business and educational settings, has not advanced far beyond that. To many, the words “projector” conjures up a dull presentation. But that’s an outdated mindset.
PAGE 3
The New Color Standard Faced with absence of reliable color information from projector users and purchasers, in 2009 the National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST) issued a scientific paper on Color Brightness. It stated that in addition to the typical white light brightness rating of display devices, there was a need to provide "an equivalent measurement that will better describe a projector's color performance when rendering full color imagery.
PAGE 4
To determine the Color Light Output of a given projector, three RGB (red, blue, green) color patterns are divided into nine separate areas. The luminance of the nine areas is then measured for each pattern, and an average value taken for each. Finally, the Color Light Output is calculated by adding the average values of the three patterns. For optimal color performance, consumers should select projectors with specifications showing high Color Light Output, equal to the White Light Output.
PAGE 5
Once the respondents understood this, some 84 percent told the researchers that they want manufacturers to include Color Brightness, also measured in lumens, in projector specifications. And an overwhelming 94 percent of respondents stated that such a “Color Brightness specification” will have an impact on purchase decision. As Art Feierman, president of ProjectorReviews.com, notes, “Many projectors produce a hefty amount of white lumens, but come up very short when trying to produce rich, accurate colors.