Accurate representation of interference colours (Michel –Lévy chart): from rendering to image colour correction

This study presents a work flow towards an accurate representation of interference colours captured on a light microscope. The work flow includes accurate calculation of interference colours considering the colour tint of the light source of the microscope, as well as the colour correction of the camera using readily available colour targets. The overall performance of the workflow was tested by comparing calculated interference colours with colour‐corrected images of a quartz wedge captured at 5× magnification. The performance was measured in units of ΔE00, with lower units signalling less colour difference and units <1.0 signifying colour differences imperceptible by the human eye. This formula is used in the printing industry with values up to 6.0 representing various levels of tolerance for colour similarity (CGATS, 2014). Uncorrected images of the quartz wedge in sRGB colour space revealed a mean ΔE00 of 12.3, which could be reduced to a mean of 4.9 by applying a colour correction procedure based on using an IT8.7/1 calibration target and a Matrix only colour correction algorithm. ΔE00 varied significantly over the studied range of interference colours, with greater colour differences in the higher end of the quartz wedge. The reason for this variation is not well understood but it might be related to imperfect fitting due to a variable slope of the quartz wedge or to limitations of the colour correction profiles. The quality of different colour correction proce...
Source: Journal of Microscopy - Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Tags: Original Article Source Type: research