Calibrated Colour Mapping Between LCD and CRT Displays: A Case Study

The primary goal of a colour characterization model is to establish a mapping from digital input values di (i=R,G,B) to tristimulus values such as XYZ. A good characterization model should be fast, use a small amount of data, and allow for backward mapping from tristimulus to di. This paper demonstrates implementations of three different colour characterization models, each tested on seven display devices. The characterization models implemented in this study are a 3D LUT, a linear model [2], and the masking model introduced by Tamura et al. in 2002 [6]. The devices include two CRT Monitors, three LCD Monitors, and two LCD Projectors. Several characteristics of the display devices are presented in relation to data collection and characterization modeling. These include the long phosphor stabilization time on CRT monitors and the shifting chromaticity of mixed colours on LCD displays. The results of this study indicate that a simple linear model is the most effective for all devices used in the study, despite the common belief that it is sometimes inappropriate for LCD monitors. A simple extension to the linear model is presented, and it is demonstrated that this extension improves white prediction without causing significant errors for other colours.