Luxeon Products (I/III/K2/V) - RGB Colour analysis by BIN code

[mort]

Hi there,

I did some work on converting wavelength (nm) values to RGB, using a small program WavelengthToRGB   http://miguelmoreno.net/sandbox/wavelengthtoRGB/

I have recently got interested in the saber scene, and managed to be lucky enough to get hold on a Master Yoda Graflex IV. The cyan colour caused me a bit of confusion in the beginning, so I decided to investigate the bin labelling for each Luxeon category, and I wanted to find a way to interpret this on screen with RGB colour data.

I took the min and max dominant (nm) value for each Luxeon bin, and took the halfway point between them to get my RGB values.

Please see the attached image, which shows the Luxeons grouped in colour category and then within that by bin code.

Obviously this is only concerning shade/hue, no intensity/luminosity has been taken into account... If someone knows how I could do this using the data from Lumileds and then in Photoshop, please let me know.

Hope it helps some people, when looking for a certain shade, remember RGB conversion will never be 100% accurate, and as such, this is only a guide.

Make sure your monitor is calibrated as best you can.



ROYAL BLUE               

Bin Code   Min (nm)   Avg (nm)   Max (nm)      RGB on Avg
3   440   443   445      0,15,255
4   445   448   450      0,41,255
5   450   453   455      0,66,255
6   455   458   460      0,92,255
7   460   463   465      0,117,255
8   465   468   470      0,143,255
               
BLUE               
               
Bin Code   Min (nm)   Avg (nm)   Max (nm)      RGB on Avg
1   460   463   465      0,117,255
2   465   468   470      0,143,255
3   470   473   475      0,168,255
4   475   478   480      0,194,255
5   480   483   485      0,219,255
6   485   488   490      0,245,255
               
CYAN               
               
Bin Code   Min (nm)   Avg (nm)   Max (nm)      RGB on Avg
1   490   493   495      0,255,217
2   495   498   500      0,255,153
3   500   503   505      0,255,89
4   505   508   510      0,255,26
5   510   513   515      11,255,0
6   515   518   520      29,255,0
               
GREEN               
               
Bin Code   Min (nm)   Avg (nm)   Max (nm)      RGB on Avg
1   520   523   525      47,255,0
2   525   528   530      66,255,0
3   530   533   535      84,255,0
4   535   538   540      102,255,0
5   540   543   545      120,255,0
6   545   548   550      138,255,0

AMBER   Luxeon K2, III            

Bin Code   Min (nm)   Avg (nm)   Max (nm)      RGB on Avg
1   584.5   586   587      255,231,0
2   587   588   589.5      255,224,0
4   589.5   591   592      255,212,0
6   592   593   594.5      255,204,0
7   594.5   596   597      255,192,0
               
RED/RED-ORANGE   Luxeon K2, III            

Bin Code   Min (nm)   Avg (nm)   Max (nm)      RGB on Avg
2   613.5   617   620.5      255,110,0
4   620.5   626   631      255,75,0
5   631   638   645      255,27,0

[mort]

here is a similar one for the Seoul P4 products, this bin information was taken from March 2008, so I believe it still applies.....



BLUE               

Bin Code   Min (nm)   Avg (nm)   Max (nm)      RGB on Avg
BB1   455   458   460      0,92,255
BB2   460   463   465      0,117,255
BB3   465   468   470      0,143,255
BB4   470   473   475      0,168,255
               
GREEN               

Bin Code   Min (nm)   Avg (nm)   Max (nm)      RGB on Avg
GG1   520   523   525      47,255,0
GG2   525   528   530      66,255,0
GG3   530   533   535      84,255,0
               
RED               

Bin Code   Min (nm)   Avg (nm)   Max (nm)      RGB on Avg
RR1   618   622   625      255,90,0
RR2   625   629   632      255,63,0

[Avvatar]

...

...

 :o

Ok, a thread like this needs to be stickied.  Mort i sent you a PM. Bravo man, BRA VO.



Jim   aka  Avv

[wookieecrisp]

Very nice idea and good job! This deserves a sticky.

[DARTH MAUL]

Very well done. I've always wanted to see a visual comparision and go less off just opinion and pictures of sabers with what I hoped was the right color I was looking at. This helps a tons. Definitely needs to be stickied!

[Orakaa]

Very interesting and useful (I've been searching for something like this). Would be perfect if we could do some proper photo shooting with every type of BIN to add to that.

I think the CYAN BIN shades are a little tricky compared to the others (remember seeing BIN 2 and BIN 3 and it looked more "in beetween" cyan and green than what's shown here... and yes my screen is professionally calibrated)

[wookieecrisp]

Yeah Cyan just looks green in bins 3+. I'm not noticing much difference between the different P4 greens, maybe it's just my moniter?

[JediMaster Thane]

I was wondering what all the Bin numbers were about.  Thank you.  Another vote for this one to be stickied.

[Kyp Durron]

LOL...guys, if you look at the top of the thread on the very left side, you notice that it's already been stickied. ;)



-Kyp

[wookieecrisp]

LOL...guys, if you look at the top of the thread on the very left side, you notice that it's already been stickied. ;)



-Kyp

Yeah I noticed that right after my post.  :D :D  :) ;)

[Reg-Ma]

 :o :o :o

Very useful..thanks, now the difference on BIN codes is much clear to me :D

[darth_call]

This is pretty useful. Understandably each PC monitor views colors a little different, but this gives a good representation of how much difference between shades there are.

Good job on this!

[Jedi Loreen]

Good stuff, dude. Nice work.

This will be helpful to many people.  :)

[Jasher Kain]

Great work! Thanks so much, Mort! 8)

[mort]

Very interesting and useful (I've been searching for something like this). Would be perfect if we could do some proper photo shooting with every type of BIN to add to that.

I think the CYAN BIN shades are a little tricky compared to the others (remember seeing BIN 2 and BIN 3 and it looked more "in beetween" cyan and green than what's shown here... and yes my screen is professionally calibrated)

Yes I couldn't agree more about the Cyan shades, If you download the wavelengthtorgb program, you will see that the hue difference even between 490 and 505 varies greatly between perceived blue and green. I had to take a typical/average value for my bin chart, that was inbetween the min and dominant nm values for the particular bin, so I do agree that the Cyan shades are more open to interpretation.

This is only meant to be a rough guide, and it's better to use the wavelengthtorgb program to move between the min and max nm values for the bin you are intersted in, to get more of an overall idea.

e.g. with Cyan BIN2, I would suggest moving thes slider from 495 to 500 to get a feel for the shade.

Yeah Cyan just looks green in bins 3+. I'm not noticing much difference between the different P4 greens, maybe it's just my moniter?

Hi Wookie, It's my understanding that the Seoul P4 greens are very similar across the bin range. I can assure you that the value for the red component does change between them, but only in small increments, 47, 66, 84.

I would believe that in real life the difference would be more noticeable, as the human eye has alot more dynamic range than a monitor's RGB color space interpretation.

I'm currently trying to source as many different bin's as I can, and take photos of them all for real, but I don't know how realistic it will be for me to source them all, and the hardest think will be controlling the photography, although I do have an SLR which I can force in manual mode for exposure etc.

Yeah Cyan just looks green in bins 3+. I'm not noticing much difference between the different P4 greens, maybe it's just my moniter?

I might have read your message incorrectly, apologies if so, but I do understand that all Cyan's above bin2 are considered green, even to the human eye. I think Tim from TCSS, only stocks Cyan in bin1 and bin2, and sells bin3+ as green.

From looking at my charts, I reckon Cyan bin6 would be a very nice colour in real life, but i'm having no luck finding one of them. Anyone ever seen a bin4/bin5/bin6 cyan in real life ? what's it like ?