Variance Formula
Mathematical algorithms calculate the perceived distance between two colors by weighting differences in lightness, chroma, hue and saturation according to human visual sensitivity. The delta e 00 formula represents the most recent widely adopted standard for measuring these variances in the print industry. It corrects for the non-uniformity of previous equations, particularly in neutral grays and saturated blue tones.
Tolerance Application
Color quality control in commercial printing relies on these calculations to define acceptable boundaries for production runs. While older formulas treated the color space as a simple sphere, delta e 00 uses an elliptical model that better matches how a press operator actually sees color shifts. A value of one is often cited as the limit of human perception, but commercial packaging tolerances usually sit between two and three depending on the brand requirements.
This specific calculation prevents the rejection of batches that look identical to the eye but might fail under less sophisticated math.
Process Control
Consistency across different substrates depends on the weighting factors within the algorithm. Because the formula accounts for the compensation of lightness and chroma, it provides a reliable pass or fail grade for spot colors on diverse paper stocks.
