Color in Electronic Displays

DEC 01, 1992

Everything from the physics of light generation to the human factors of color perception must be considered in their design.

DOI: 10.1063/1.881327

Lawrence E. Tannas

When historians judge the 20th century, they may conclude that one of its most important technical accomplishments was the electronic color video display. Certainly there have been many other notable inventions, such as the transistor, the computer and the video camera, but these are all parts used to make electronic images. Electronic images are still many times more expensivethan other forms of images, and they are limited in resolution. Nonetheless, they have an advantage over all other forms of images that completely eclipses the limitations: the speed and ease with which they can be captured, distributed, stored, retrieved, edited and displayed in real time. One can sit in Los Angeles and see the finish of an Olympic event in Barcelona with nearly the same sense of reality that someone actually in the grandstands experiences. Some television viewers feel they even have better coverage of the event because of theuse of stop action, replay, zoom and multiple camera angles. When such an event is displayed with the resolution of high‐definition television and with stereo sound, one can easily imagine being there. In this and many other ways, electronic images are helping to propel the human race into the information age.

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More about the Authors

Lawrence E. Tannas. Consultant and President of Tannas Electronics, Orange, California.