Angle resolved color of bulk scattering media.

The angle resolved reflectance factor of matte samples is measured with a goniophotometer and simulated using radiative transfer theory. Both measurements and simulations display the same characteristic dependence of the reflectance factor on the observation angle. The angle resolved reflectance spectra are translated to CIELAB color coordinates and the angular color differences are found to be surprisingly large. A chromatic adaptation that is dependent on the observation angle is suggested, in which a nonabsorbing opaque medium is used as the reference white, and the angular color differences are then reduced. Furthermore, the use of an undyed paper as the reference white is evaluated. The angular lightness differences are then reduced further, but the angular differences in chroma are still large. It is suggested that smaller variations in perceived color could be explained by angle dependent chromatic adaptation and a limited sensitivity of the human visual system to changes in chroma.