Metamerism

In addition to making me sound smarter than I actually am, tonight's title references a concept I've been studying for work, one that has seeped into everyday life. Why? Because I like to think about stuff.

Metamerism is a term that pops up in the world of Color Management. Believe it or not but color is not as simple as one would think, and controlling it requires both careful planning and a little finesse. There's a science behind it all, filled with enough logarithms and obscure equations to make my brain hurt. Luckily there are folks out there with doctorates in the field to do all the heavy lifting.

While I don't need to be an expert, a passing familiarity with the concepts and theories has become a professional necessity. When things break I need to have a basic understanding of how they work, so I can communicate with the guys that live and breathe this stuff. So I decided to grab a book and start studying.

Simply put, metamerism is a phenomenon where two different color samples produce the same color sensation under certain viewing conditions, and a different color sensation under different conditions. Translation: Colors change based on how they are observed (different lighting = different color), and by who looks at them.

This relationship can create issues when you're trying to match colors, because you cannot always predict the perceptions of your audience, or environment they're going to view the work in. It's all about perceptions and expectations.

Here's where my thoughts shifted, away from work and back into the personal life. If we all perceive events in different ways, so how much deviation is there between two accounts of the same event? How well do we translate to each other?

This all leads back to a romantic thread, but I won't say anything more than that here, except that for the first time in years I see potential in something, in someone. I'm just trying to wrap my head around what it all means. Who knows?