Effects of Colour Combination on Short-Words Processing Speed

Abstract

In television broadcasts, important information is often conveyed with short inscriptions. In such elements, the typeface, letter case, positioning, timing and colour combinations may affect the speed of information processing to the level of recognition. It is therefore necessary to choose an appropriate combination of these properties. In the present study, we were especially interested in the effects of applied colours in connection with the above-mentioned factors. The speed of recognising three-letter words was measured in different experimental conditions where the typeface of the inscription, its position and colour combination varied. Two typefaces (i.e. Calibri and Georgia), two letter cases (i.e. upper-case and lowercase), two positions (i.e. upper left and right) and four colour combinations (i.e. white on blue, blue on white, white on red and red on white) were tested. The results showed that colour combinations affected the speed of word processing to the level of recognition.

Impact of Typeface and Colour Combinations on LCD Display Legibility

“…A higher colour contrast results in better performance [27] and should give better results of legibility [19]. A moderate or even a high colour contrast does not guarantee quick visual perception [28] if the luminance contrast between the characters and background is small [29].…”

“…To attract the reader's attention, blue and red colours are often used with white background [19]. The red colour is associated with danger, energy or warmth [20].…”