The CIE 1976 Color‐Difference Formulae

The International Commission on Illumination (CIE) has recommended the use of two approximately uniform color spaces and associated color‐difference formulae chosen from among several of similar merit to promote uniformity of practice. In this paper, the various features of the two formulae are discussed and compared. It is shown that the two are approximately equal in their degree of agreement with visual judgements of color difference. Choice of which formula to use in a particular situation will often depend not so much on scientific merit as on other factors such as familiarity and conformance to common practice in a particular industry or group.