Chromatic induction and the layout of colours within a complex scene
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 25, 2026

Visualizing Visual Adaptation
Published on: April 24, 2017
Eli Brenner1, Jesus S Ruiz, Esther M Herráiz
1Department of Neuroscience, ErasmusMC, postbus 1738, 3000 DR, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. e.brenner@erasmusmc.nl
Abstract:
A target's apparent colour is influenced by the colours in its surrounding. If the surrounding consists of a single coloured surface, the influence is a shift 'away' from the surface's colour. If the surface is more than 1 degrees from the target area the shift is very small. If there are many surfaces, then not only the average luminance and chromaticity of the surfaces matters, but also the chromatic variability. It is not yet clear whether it makes any difference where the chromatic variability is within the scene, so we constructed stimuli in which the chromatic variability was restricted to certain regions. We found that it made very little difference where the chromatic variability was located. The extent to which the average colour of nearby surfaces influences the apparent colour of the target seems to depend on the average chromatic variability of the whole scene.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Color Vision
Gestalt Principles of Perception
Colors and Magnetism
When atoms or molecules absorb light at the proper frequency, their electrons are excited to higher-energy orbitals. For many main group atoms and molecules, the absorbed photons are in the ultraviolet range of the electromagnetic spectrum, which cannot be detected by the human eye. For coordination compounds, the energy difference between the d orbitals often allows photons in the visible range to be absorbed and emitted, which is seen as colors by the human eye.
Photoreceptors and Visual Pathways
Vision
Complexometric Titration: Overview

