Preferred colour temperature on a colour screen

We performed a study in which 12 participants gave their preferences for correlated colour temperature on a colour computer screen. They judged four different picture presentations for two illuminants with the correlated colour temperatures of 3000 and 6500 K. The main study was carried out at 150 Ix, and another one at approximately 215 Ix. A method of adjustments was used. The participants set their preferences regarding both black and white, and colour pictures, which depicted both the people and the objects. Primary findings were that: (1) the nature of the ambient light in a particular setting has a strong influence on the preferred colour temperature on a computer screen, and (2) the strength of a person's preferences may vary as a function of the information presented. Spectral analysis indicated that it was the reflected light from the plastic frame and not the light from the display glass, which was one main cause of the participants' preferences. This was interpreted as an effect of colour induction. A useful recommendation for either condition of ambient light would be a correlated colour temperature of 5800 K. (C) 1999 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.