This study identified the colours that were perceived as being the best examples (focal colours) of 10 common colour names when viewed on an electronic display. A total of 204 colours deri ved from a reflective surface colour measurement system (Munsell) were converted to the Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage (CIE) 1976 system and presented on a cathode ray tube (CRT). Forty subjects chose what was perceived as the best examples for each of the following colour terms: purple, blue, aqua, green, yellow, orange, red, pink, grey, and white. Results show that focal colours on a CRT do not always correspond to the typical colours used or to the best examples for reflective surface colours. The display designer should consider these differences when selecting colours for a display.Cette etude a permis d'identifier les couleurs qui, vues en affichage electronique. ont ete percues commes les meiJIeurs exemples (couleurs focales) de dix noms courants de couleurs. Un total de 204 couleurs, derivees d'un systerne des mesure des couleurs sur surface reflechrissante (Munsell), ont ete transposees dans Ie systerne de la Commission Intemationale de L'Eclairage et presentees sur ecran cathodique (EC). Quarant sujets ont choisi ce qu'ils ont percu comme le meilleur exemple de chacune des noms de couleurs suivants: violet, blue bleu-vert, vert, jaune, orange, rouge, gris, et blanc. Les resultats indiquent que les couleurs focales sur Ee ne correspondent ni aux couleurs typiquement utilisees sur EC ni aux couleurs focales des surfaces reflechissantes. On conclut qu'en selectionnant les couleurs qui feront partie d'un affichage, le concepteur devrait prendre en consideration ces differences.
IntroductionA study by Berlin and Kay (1969) revived interest in the hypothesis that all languages share a universal system of basic colour categorization. They studied colour naming behaviour in 20 different languages using the Munsell colour classification system. Whereas the boundaries of these basic colour categories vary across languages and cultures, the foci, or best examples of these basic categories are remarkably similar. Their results suggest an underlying perception of colour independent of culture, since colour foci associated with colour names were universally shared. Heider (1972) also found focal colours that were the same across languages and that these colours were more accurately remembered than non-focal colours. Comparable results were found for the learning of colour terms (Harkness 1973), the nature and formation of colour categories (Mervis and Roth 1981), and the development of colour naming in children
