Measuring human skin colour

Human skin colour measurements from four ethnic groups including 188 subjects were accumulated. Five to ten locations of each subject were measured by using two different instruments, a tele-spectroradiometer and a spectrophotometer. Three repeated measurements were accumulated for each location. Repeatability of the measurements at different locations from different ethnicities was examined using the mean CIELAB colour difference from the mean (MCDM). The colour distribution between different locations of different ethnic groups was also studied by plotting the data in a*b* and L*C* ab planes. Systematic trends were found between different ethnicities and instruments.