Since the invention of practical incandescent lighting by Thomas Edison in 1879, electrical light sources have undergone remarkable development in variety and performance. With modern lighting technologies such as light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and organic LEDs, there is scope for varying the spectral, temporal and spatial distribution of their light emissions.
A key to applying and marketing such sources is providing a reliable means for calibrating quality. The color rendering index (CRI) is a long-standing metric. However, it is not adequate for accurate evaluation of attributes like color naturalness and vividness.
The authors of this book provide a comprehensive description of the remarkably intricate methods that are now used to provide reliable assessments of color quality. The authors are to be congratulated for marshalling the techniques in a manner that’s accessible even to the nonspecialist reader.
K. Alan Shore, Bangor University, U.K.
The opinions expressed in the book review section are those of the reviewer and do not necessarily reflect those of OPN or OSA.