Complementary colour harmony in different colour spaces

This research investigates hue complementarity in different colour spaces namely CIELAB, CIELUV, Kuehni LAB, OSA-UCS, and Hunter Rdab colour spaces. A psychophysical experiment has determined the hue of colours that are deemed complementary to twenty standard fixed hues. The data were then analysed in CIELAB space and the other applied ones to explore in which colour space opposite hues best describe visual complementary relationships. In each space the opposite hues were calculated as 180 degrees from the standard fixed hues and compared with the psychophysically derive complementary hues. The results show that none of the five colour spaces can exactly predict complementary relationships; however OSA-UCS colour space performed better than the other four colour spaces. For OSA-UCS colour space, apart from a few hues, each complementary hue was within 1.0±4.5 degrees of the opposite hue. The computations were carried out under CIE illuminant D65 and for the 1964 standard observer. Previous investigations (Mahyar et al. 2011) was carried out in the other colour spaces, namely CIELAB, Munsell and Kuehnie LAB, under different conditions of CIE illuminant C and 1931 standard observer. Psychophysical experiment in CIELAB colour space were presented at a previous AIC meeting (Mahyar et al. 2007).