Can you read this?
Turns out our brain doesn’t read every letter of a word, but rather the word as a whole.
Are these center squares the same color?
Move the center box between the squares to find out.
Believe it or not, they are the same color.
Which center circle is larger?
Click on the image to find out.
Although they don’t appear to be with the surrounding shapes, the inside circles are the same size.
Count the dots.
What’s going on here?
If you focus on any one intersection, it will appear and remain white for as long as you look at it. But what about the other intersections? The moral is you can’t trust what you see.
Are these lines parallel?
Look closely, then Click on the image to remove the squares.
Despite what you think you see these lines are parallel.
Do you see any numbers?
You should see a number “6” in the first circle, and a “2” in the second.
If not, you may want to consider taking a color vision test.
How Color Technology Can Help
Retinal fatigue, background effects, lighting, and the environment all affect how we perceive color. Color technology removes subjectivity for accurate evaluation.
A Light Booth
A light booth can simulate product color under store lighting as well as under lighting that represents the final environment, such as daylight, LED, and lamplight. When a finished good is assembled using several materials, a light booth can also ensure color harmony among components under all lighting conditions.
A Spectrophotometer
While the human eye accounts for surroundings when making a color judgment, a color measurement device does not. A spectrophotometer simply measures the reflected light from the targeted sample area. We call this “aperture mode.” In other words, the instrument views only the target as seen through the aperture; it is not aware that a surround even exists.
Color Vision Testing
If your job requires judging color, you should test your color vision acuity. Our Online Color Challenge is a fun place to start, but for a true color vision analysis we recommend the Farnsworth Munsell 100 Hue Test.
Learn More About Overcoming Optical Illusions
If accurate color is important to you, we have resources to help.
Read the X-Rite Blog
- Color Perception Blog Series – Learn more about how we perceive color and why it is important for manufacturing.
- The Science of Visual Evaluation – Discover why a light booth is necessary for every color evaluation workflow.
- What is Metamerism – Understand the phenomenon behind why colors seem to match under certain lighting conditions but not others.
Take the X-Rite FOCA Course
For a more in depth look at how to overcome optical illusions for color evaluation, consider our Fundamentals of Color and Appearance eLearning course or seminar.
Speak with a Color Expert
As always, if you have questions, our Color Experts are here to help.
If we can’t lead route, Want to speak with a Brand Color Expert?
