-----Original Message-----
From: Clarence Bennett
Sent: Friday, March 28, 2008 8:47 AM
To: Forum for Physics Educators
Subject: Re: [Phys-l] experiments with dyes (was: happy equinox)
Is this the reason that yellow, light green and light blue, that look
so good on laptops where power points are prepared, vanish into the
background when projected? And what can be done about it?
The luminance channel in our color vision system is mostly due to the
middle (green) and long (red) wavelength cones.
<http://www.yorku.ca/eye/luminanc.htm>
So colors that differ only in the amount of blue light can be difficult
to discern, since they stimulate the same amount of luminance.
Those color combinations that differ in the amount of blue light
include:
White (R+G+B)/Yellow (R+G)
Blue (B)/Black
Magenta (R+B)/Red (R)
Cyan (G+B)/Green (G)
So in general, these are color combinations to avoid. If you use a
white background, don't use yellow letters. If you use a black
background, don't use blue letters. They are hard to see on a monitor or
projected on a screen.
Complementary colors tend to stand out the best.
White/Black
Red/Cyan
Green/Magenta
Blue/Yellow