An Introduction to the Technology of Color Films (Film Colorimetry) — A Tutorial Paper

Metadata

Publisher: SMPTE
Doc Type: Journal Article
Article Type: research-article
Abstract: An analogy between the color photographic system and color television reproduction of an original scene is outlined. There are four basic steps or stages common to both technologies, color film and color television: (1) color separation, (2) input processing, (3) color synthesis, and (4) display. This paper, a tutorial discussion for manufacturers of telecine equipment, sets forth the basics of film colorimetry. The structure of color films is explained, as well as the basics of subtractive color reproduction theory. The fundamentals of sensitometry are touched on, and the aims of tone and color reproduction are defined. The rest of the paper is dedicated to the discussion of the color photographic dyes and their properties. The formation of the dyes by means of couplers incorporated in the photographic emulsion layers is explained, and the spectrophotometric properties of these dyes are elucidated. An important imperfection of these dyes consists in their having so-called unwanted absorption bands which make faithful rendering of the original scene difficult. However, the deleterious effect of the unwanted absorptions can be greatly reduced by the use of masking, a technique which practically nullifies the influence of the unwanted absorptions of the dyes. Two types of possible masking techniques are described: masking by means of colored couplers and masking by means of the interlayer interimage effect. Both can be combined. Presently manufactured motion-picture filmstocks incorporate one or both of these technologies. With these techniques, an acceptable reproduction of the original scene, pleasant to the eye, can be obtained.
Publication Date: 1979-11-01
DOI: 10.5594/J10358
Link: https://doi.org/10.5594/J10358
Author(s): H. J. Bello

Source Data (JSON)

Full registry record with provenance metadata. Open directly: /api/doc/10.5594-J10358.json

Reference this Doc

Plain text (ISO 690 compliant)

Preview:

H. J. Bello; An Introduction to the Technology of Color Films (Film Colorimetry) — A Tutorial Paper, SMPTE Journal ( Volume: 88, Issue: 11, November 1979); SMPTE, 1979. Available at https://doi.org/10.5594/J10358

Snippet:

H. J. Bello; An Introduction to the Technology of Color Films (Film Colorimetry) — A Tutorial Paper, SMPTE Journal ( Volume: 88, Issue: 11, November 1979); SMPTE, 1979. Available at https://doi.org/10.5594/J10358

HTML (ISO 690 compliant)

Preview:

Snippet:

<span class="citation">H. J. Bello; <cite>An Introduction to the Technology of Color Films (Film Colorimetry) — A Tutorial Paper</cite>, SMPTE Journal ( Volume: 88, Issue: 11, November 1979); SMPTE, 1979. Available at <a href="https://doi.org/10.5594/J10358" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://doi.org/10.5594/J10358</a></span>

SMPTE's HTML Pub

Preview:

H. J. Bello; An Introduction to the Technology of Color Films (Film Colorimetry) — A Tutorial Paper, SMPTE Journal ( Volume: 88, Issue: 11, November 1979); SMPTE, 1979
doi: 10.5594/J10358
url: https://doi.org/10.5594/J10358

Snippet:

<li>
H. J. Bello; <cite id="bib-10-5594-j10358">An Introduction to the Technology of Color Films (Film Colorimetry) — A Tutorial Paper</cite>, SMPTE Journal ( Volume: 88, Issue: 11, November 1979); SMPTE, 1979
<span class="doi">10.5594/J10358</span>
</li>