Perceptually optimal color ramps

Abstract

Given two colors C0 and C1, which is the shortest color ramp that interpolates between them? When we talk about the shortest color ramp we refer to the shortest ramp in our perceptual space, i.e., the ramp with the smallest arc length where the distance between colors is the perceptual distance, which is measured experimentally. Therefore, in a perceptually perfect uniform color space, the shortest ramp between two colors is the straight line that connects the colors in that color space, which we generate with a LERP. For the purpose of finding the shortest color ramp we present two tests that provide measures to compare several color ramps and find which one is the perceptually shortest one. We use our result to compare previous proposed color spaces; and we propose, as an extension, an alternative color selection tool to the typical average or complementary.