Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 11, 2026

Precision Implementation of Minimal Erythema Dose (MED) Testing to Assess Individual Variation in Human Inflammatory Response
Published on: October 3, 2019
Technical note: comparing von Luschan skin color tiles and modern spectrophotometry for measuring human skin
Anna K Swiatoniowski1, Ellen E Quillen, Mark D Shriver
1Department of Anthropology, The Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA 16802, USA.
Abstract:
Prior to the introduction of reflectance spectrophotometry into anthropological field research during the 1950s, human skin color was most commonly classified by visual skin color matching using the von Luschan tiles, a set of 36 standardized, opaque glass tiles arranged in a chromatic scale. Our goal was to establish a conversion formula between the tile-based color matching method and modern reflectance spectrophotometry to make historical and contemporary data comparable. Skin pigmentation measurements were taken on the forehead, inner upper arms, and backs of the hands using both the tiles and a spectrophotometer on 246 participants showing a broad range of skin pigmentation. From these data, a second-order polynomial conversion formula was derived by jackknife analysis to estimate melanin index (M-index) based on tile values. This conversion formula provides a means for comparing modern data to von Luschan tile measurements recorded in historical reports. This is particularly important for populations now extinct, extirpated, or admixed for which tile-based measures of skin pigmentation are the only data available.
Related Concept Videos
Pigmentation
Melanin occurs in two primary forms: eumelanin that provides black and brown pigment and pheomelanin that provides red color. Dark-skinned individuals produce more melanin than those with pale...
Changes in Skin Color: Clinical Perspectives
Albinism
Albinism is a genetic disorder that affects (completely or partially) the coloring of skin, hair, and eyes. The defect is primarily...
Spectrophotometry: Introduction
The essential components of a spectrophotometer include a source of electromagnetic radiation, a slot for placing a material to be analyzed, and a...
UV–Vis Spectroscopy of Conjugated Systems
One of the factors influencing λmax is the extent of conjugation in the...
UV–Vis Spectrometers
Color Vision

