Effects of color temperature and luminance of LEDs on color judgments involving various printing materials

This study investigated errors in color judgment related to stimuli (cyan vs. magenta vs. yellow) printed on various materials (coated paper vs. cotton vs. polyester fiber) and occurring in a range of visual environments (color temperature x luminance: 4000 K x 1500 lx vs. 4000 K x 750 lx vs. 2700 K x 1500 lx vs. 2700 K x 750 lx) under illuminated light-emitting diodes. Participants included 16 female and 14 male Taiwanese college students [age range, 20-26 years (M = 21.92, SD = 2.13)]. Subjects were instructed to perform a series of comparative judgments in which they carefully observed a standard stimulus color under illuminated LEDs and judged which of five simultaneously presented colors under illuminant D65 was the most similar to the standard color. Data analysis revealed that the effect of visual environment on accuracy of color judgments against the standard was significant. Additionally, the accuracy of color judgments against the standard was significantly better for polyester printing material than it was for coated paper. The color of the standard also significantly affected color judgment accuracy: cyan yielded significantly worse accuracy rates than did magenta or yellow. These results have implications for lighting design and interior design.