The International Commission on Illumination (usually abbreviated CIE for its French name, Commission internationale de l'éclairage) is the international authority on
light
Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that can be perceived by the human eye. Visible light is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400–700 nanometres (nm), corresponding to frequencies of 750–420 t ...
,
illumination,
colour
Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associ ...
, and
colour spaces. It was established in 1913 as a successor to the
Commission Internationale de Photométrie, which was founded in 1900, and is today based in
Vienna, Austria
en, Viennese
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.
Organization
The CIE has six active divisions, each of which establishes technical committees to carry out its program:
* Division 1: Vision and Colour
* Division 2: Physical Measurement of Light and Radiation
* Division 3: Interior Environment and Lighting Design
* Division 4: Transportation and Exterior Applications
* Division 6: Photobiology and Photochemistry
* Division 8: Image Technology
Two divisions are no longer active:
* Division 5: Exterior Lighting and Other Applications
* Division 7: General Aspects of Lighting
The President of the CIE from 2019 is Dr Peter Blattner from Switzerland.
CIE publishes Technical Reports (TRs), International Standards (ISs) and Technical Notes (TNs). International Standards (ISs) are often further developed as dual standards with the
ISO or
IEC
The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC; in French: ''Commission électrotechnique internationale'') is an international standards organization that prepares and publishes international standards for all electrical, electronic and r ...
.
Milestones
* In 1924 it established the
standard photopic observer defined by the spectral
luminous efficiency function ''V''(''λ''), followed in 1951 by the
standard scotopic observer defined by the function ''V''’(''λ'').
*
Building on the
Optical Society of America's report on
colorimetry in 1922,
[ The report defined colour as follows: "Color is the general name for all sensations arising from the activity of the retina of the eye and its attached nervous mechanisms, this activity being, in nearly every case in the normal individual, a specific response to radiant energy of certain wave-lengths and intensities."] the CIE convened its eighth session in 1931, with the intention of establishing an international agreement on colorimetric specifications and updating the OSA's 1922 recommendations based on the developments during the past decade. The meeting, held in
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
,
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
, concluded with the formalization of the
CIE 1931 XYZ color space and definitions of the 1931 CIE 2°
standard observer
The CIE 1931 color spaces are the first defined quantitative links between distributions of wavelengths in the electromagnetic visible spectrum, and physiologically perceived colors in human color vision. The mathematical relationships that defi ...
with the corresponding
color matching functions, and
standard illuminants A, B, and C.
* In 1964 the 10° CIE standard observer and its corresponding color matching functions as well as the new standard daylight
illuminant D6500 were added, as well as a method for calculating daylight illuminants at
correlated color temperatures other than 6500
kelvin
The kelvin, symbol K, is the primary unit of temperature in the International System of Units (SI), used alongside its prefixed forms and the degree Celsius. It is named after the Belfast-born and University of Glasgow-based engineer and ...
s.
* In 1976, the commission developed the
CIELAB
The CIELAB color space, also referred to as ''L*a*b*'' , is a color space defined by the International Commission on Illumination (abbreviated CIE) in 1976. (Referring to CIELAB as "Lab" without asterisks should be avoided to prevent confusio ...
and
CIELUV
In colorimetry, the CIE 1976 ''L''*, ''u''*, ''v''* color space, commonly known by its abbreviation CIELUV, is a color space adopted by the International Commission on Illumination (CIE) in 1976, as a simple-to-compute transformation of the 1931 ...
color spaces, which are widely used today.
* Based on CIELAB, color difference formulas CIEDE94 and CIEDE2000 were recommended in the corresponding years.
See also
*
International Color Consortium
*
International Colour Association
*
International Electrotechnical Commission
The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC; in French: ''Commission électrotechnique internationale'') is an international standards organization that prepares and publishes international standards for all electrical, electronic and ...
*
International Organization for Standardization
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO ) is an international standard development organization composed of representatives from the national standards organizations of member countries. Membership requirements are given in A ...
References
External links
CIE Web siteInter-Society Color Council
{{authority control
Lighting organizations
Color organizations
Members of the International Council for Science
Organisations based in Vienna
Scientific organisations based in Austria
Standards organisations in Austria
Vision
Members of the International Science Council