Chromatic adaptation to natural and incandescent illuminants.

A color CRT image display system was used to present adapting backgrounds that were spatially and temporally varied. Three observers adjusted the chromaticity of test stimuli to produce an achromatic appearance under a variety of adapting conditions. The achromatic-appearing chromaticities were used as measures of the observers' states of chromatic adaptation. The spatial configuration of the adapting background was varied to measure the spatial extent of the mechanisms responsible for chromatic adaptation. The temporal configuration of the adapting background was varied to measure the time-course of these mechanisms. The results show that chromatic adaptation is spatially localized with a time-course on the order of 10 sec. Since the mechanisms were shown to be spatially localized, the observed temporal integration across eye movements is required to allow these mechanisms to adjust to the spatially integrated scene chromaticity.