Color perception
Rods and cones act as filters on the spectrum
To
get the output of a filter, multiply its response curve by the spectrum,
integrate over all wavelengths
Each
cone yields one number
Q: How can we represent an entire spectrum with
3 numbers?
S
M
L
Wavelength
Power
A: We cant!
Most of the information is lost.
As a result, two
different spectra may appear indistinguishable
»such spectra are known
as metamers