3CCD camera’s capability for measuring color differences: experiment in the nearly neutral region

A method to assess the discrimination capability of a camera to measure small color differences is proposed. The method helps to fix the working conditions of the camera and analyzes the reliability of the measurements through comparison with a reference instrument. Attention is paid to the camera's performance in the nearly neutral region of color space. The color differences are calculated using the Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage L*a*b* (CIELAB) deltaEab* and CIE 2000 color-difference formula metrics. The Sony DX-9100P 3CCD camera results are very close to those obtained by the Photo Research PR-715 spectroradiometer. Their absolute discrepancy is lower than the suprathreshold of visual discrimination (0.887 CIELAB unit).