@misc{10481/109654,
year = {2025},
url = {https://hdl.handle.net/10481/109654},
abstract = {Quantitative data on the colors of early film productions is very scarce but may be useful
for preserving these cultural assets and for guiding modern digitization processes. We
measured the spectral transmittance of 46 small areas in 13 frames of films from the 1910s
and 1920s, which were colored using the same tinting process. From spectral measurements
of the light source in an early carbon arc cinema projector, we computed CIELAB color
coordinates for these areas and the results were compared with those from two more recent
light sources: a Xenon lamp and an ultra-high performance (UHP) lamp. Average color
inconstancy values for the 46 samples were 3.5, 7.9, and 7.0 CIELAB units for carbon-Xenon,
carbon-UHP and Xenon-UHP changes, respectively, which are color differences above
human visual thresholds for observers with normal color vision. Therefore, for accurate
color specifications of such films, in addition to the spectral transmittances of frames, we
must consider the spectral power distribution of projection lamps. Compared with a recent
surface object-color gamut, the 46 samples were spread across a relatively wide region of
color space, excluding CIELAB hue-angles in the range of 270–360 degrees.},
publisher = {MDPI},
keywords = {cinema color},
keywords = {colored film},
keywords = {color difference},
keywords = {color inconstancy},
keywords = {CIECAM16},
keywords = {color gamut},
keywords = {carbon arc spectrum},
title = {The Influence of Projection Lamps on the Colors of Early Silent Cinema Films},
doi = {10.3390/heritage8120532},
author = {Vázquez, Daniel and Álvarez Fernández-Balbuena, Antonio and Hernández, Irene and del Egido, Marian and Uceda, Patricia and Muñoz, María and Rellán, Javier and Melgosa Latorre, Manuel},
}