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Encyclopedia of Color Science and Technology pp 1–15Cite as

Color Spreading, Neon Color Spreading, and Watercolor Illusion

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Synonyms

Color spreading; Filling-in; Visual illusions

Definition

The color spreading is a long-range assimilative spread of color emanating from a thin colored contour running in the same direction/continuation or being contiguous/adjacent to a darker chromatic contour and imparting a figure-ground effect across a large area. The two main examples of color spreading are the well-known neon color spreading and the watercolor illusion.

Neon Color Spreading

In 1971, Varin [1] studied a novel “chromatic spreading” phenomenon induced when four sets of concentric black circumferences, arranged in a cross-like shape, are partially composed of blue arcs, thus producing a virtual large central blue circle (Fig. 1a). The virtual circle appears as a ghostly transparent circular veil of chromatic translucent diffusion of bluish tint spreading among the boundaries of the blue arcs and filling in the entire illusory circle, induced by the terminations of the black arcs (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1
figure 1

Neon color...

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References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Università degli Studi di Sassari, Via Roma 151, 07100, Sassari, Italy

    Baingio Pinna

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  1. Baingio Pinna
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Correspondence to Baingio Pinna .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Design University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom

    Ronnier Luo

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Pinna, B. (2015). Color Spreading, Neon Color Spreading, and Watercolor Illusion. In: Luo, R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Color Science and Technology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27851-8_267-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27851-8_267-1

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27851-8

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Color Spreading, Neon Color Spreading, and Watercolor Illusion
    Published:
    05 December 2019

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27851-8_267-2

  2. Original

    Color Spreading, Neon Color Spreading, and Watercolor Illusion
    Published:
    25 September 2015

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27851-8_267-1

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