ABSTRACT
Determination of the role of subject experience in the development of accurate color difference formulas is of potentially critical concern. As part of a larger multivariable experiment investigating the minimum inter- and intra-subject variability possible among a set of subjects, a study was conducted to compare the performance of 25 novice versus 25 expert visual assessors for a set of 27 pairs of colored textile samples using a controlled psychophysical method and several statistical techniques including t-test, ANOVA, and Standardized Residual Sum of Squares (STRESS) functions. Experts exhibited approximately 43% higher visual difference ratings than novice subjects when assessing sample pairs having small color differences. In addition, a statistically significant difference at the 95% confidence level was found between the judgments made by novice and expert assessors. According to the STRESS function, however, CMC(1:1) and CIEDE2000(1:1) color difference formulas do not show a significant difference in performance when the visual data from either group of subjects are compared.
