Trichromatic Analysis of the Munsell Book of Color
James J. Glenn, Sidney Blumenthal & Company, Shelton, Connecticut AND James T. Killian, Pope & Gray, Inc., New York, New York
THE Atlas of the Munsell Color System was superseded in 1929 by the Munsell Book of Color. The advantages and disadvantages of the new color system are discussed elsewhere in this series of papers. The purpose of this paper is to establish the connection between the color system represented by the Munsell Book of Color and the system adopted in 1931 by the International Commission on Illumination. The data contained herein were obtained during 1934,[1] and were originally intended for publication in the forthcoming report of the Optical Society of America Committee on Colorimetry. When the present series of papers was recently proposed, it seemed appropriate that publication should not be further delayed.
Table I.
| Munsell Notation |
X | Y | Z | x | y | Dominant Wave-Length |
Excitation Purity | ||
| 10 | PB | 7/6 | 0.4543 | 0.4307 | 0.7338 | 0.2806 | 0.2661 | 460.4 | 17.6 |
| 7/4 | .4650 | .4495 | .6976 | .2884 | .2788 | 460.0 | 13.0 | ||
| 6/8 | .3627 | .3214 | .6815 | .2656 | .2354 | 456.0 | 27.6 | ||
| 6/6 | .3372 | .3098 | .5889 | .2728 | .2507 | 458.0 | 22.8 | ||
| 6/4 | .3495 | .3295 | .5591 | .2823 | .2661 | 456.0 | 17.2 | ||
| 5/10 | .2359 | .1968 | .5232 | .2468 | .2059 | 459.0 | 38.4 | ||
| 5/8 | .2413 | .2070 | .5027 | .2537 | .2177 | 459.0 | 34.2 | ||
| 5/6 | .2352 | .2109 | .4470 | .2634 | .2361 | 460.0 | 28.0 | ||
| 5/4 | .2352 | .2179 | .4014 | .2752 | .2550 | 458.0 | 21.2 | ||
| 4/10 | .1570 | .1234 | .3697 | .2415 | .1898 | 454.0 | 43.1 | ||
| 4/8 | .1578 | .1288 | .3557 | .2457 | .2005 | 456.0 | 39.8 | ||
| 4/6 | .1566 | .1344 | .3092 | .2613 | .2226 | 451.0 | 31.4 | ||
| 4/4 | .1436 | .1279 | .2504 | .2751 | .2451 | 444.0 | 23.5 | ||
| 3/10 | .1041 | .0703 | .2847 | .2267 | .1531 | 449.0 | 54.6 | ||
| 3/8 | .0974 | .0755 | .2247 | .2450 | .1899 | 450.0 | 42.4 | ||
| 3/6 | .0904 | .0740 | .1913 | .2541 | .2080 | 451.0 | 36.3 | ||
| 3/4 | .0842 | .0729 | .1635 | .2626 | .2274 | 453.5 | 30.2 | ||
| 2/6 | .0498 | .0408 | .0121 | .2584 | .2117 | 445.0 | 34.6 | ||
| 2/4 | .0490 | .0408 | .1007 | .2573 | .2141 | 450.5 | 34.3 | ||
| PB 8/2 | .6253 | .6411 | .9302 | 2847 | .2919 | 478.0 | 12.0 | ||
| 7/6 | .4447 | .4550 | .8020 | .2613 | .2674 | 477.5 | 23.2 | ||
| 7/4 | .4627 | .4745 | .7653 | .2718 | .2787 | 477.8 | 18.2 | ||
| 7/2 | .4723 | .4877 | .6965 | .2851 | .2944 | 477.3 | 11.5 | ||
| 6/8 | .3277 | .3314 | .6960 | .2418 | .2446 | 476.6 | 33.0 | ||
| 6/6 | .3358 | .3398 | .6466 | .2540 | .2570 | 476.6 | 27.2 | ||
| 6/4 | .3495 | .3562 | .5998 | .2677 | .2728 | 477.1 | 20.4 | ||
| 6/2 | .3378 | .3430 | .5171 | .2820 | .2863 | 476.2 | 13.7 | ||
| 5/10 | .2212 | .2282 | .5684 | .2173 | .2242 | 477.6 | 44.2 | ||
| 5/8 | .2197 | .2249 | .5260 | .2264 | .2317 | 477.4 | 40.1 | ||
| 5/6 | .2168 | .2206 | .4552 | .2429 | .2471 | 477.0 | 32.3 | ||
| 5/4 | .2066 | .2104 | .3784 | .2597 | .2645 | 477.0 | 24.3 | ||
| 5/2 | .2055 | .2091 | .3292 | .2763 | .2811 | 476.9 | 16.3 | ||
| 4/10 | .1460 | .1455 | .4254 | .2037 | .2030 | 476.4 | 51.9 | ||
| 4/8 | .1407 | .1409 | .3676 | .2167 | .2170 | 476.5 | 45.4 | ||
| 4/6 | .1370 | .1379 | .3109 | .2339 | .2354 | 476.5 | 37.0 | ||
| 4/4 | .1348 | .1357 | .2612 | .2535 | .2552 | 476.2 | 27.6 | ||
| 4/2 | .1332 | .1349 | .2110 | .2780 | .2816 | 476.0 | 15.7 | ||
| 3/12 | .0827 | .0799 | .2949 | .1808 | .1746 | 475.8 | 63.6 | ||
| 3/10 | .0853 | .0825 | .2749 | .1927 | .1864 | 475.7 | 57.9 | ||
| 3/8 | .0806 | .0788 | .2329 | .2055 | .2009 | 475.7 | 51.5 | ||
| 3/6 | .0770 | 0.756 | .1933 | .2226 | .2186 | 475.5 | 43.2 | ||
| 3/4 | .0739 | 0.734 | .1587 | .2415 | .2399 | 475.4 | 33.8 | ||
| 3/2 | .0718 | 0.724 | .1231 | .2686 | .2709 | 476.0 | 20.4 | ||
| 2/6 | .0423 | .0418 | .1230 | .2042 | .2018 | 476.1 | 51.9 | ||
| 2/4 | .0405 | .0402 | .1012 | .2226 | .2210 | 476.0 | 42.9 | ||
| 2/2 | .0368 | .0364 | 0.698 | .2573 | .2545 | 474.7 | 26.5 | ||
- ↑ Bachelor’s Thesis, Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1935.
