Tint Perception depends on what it is being compared to

[moderator007]

I think I have a understanding now.
Thanks jon_slider and everyone else who contributed in making this a little more clearer.

[Rayoui]

@jon_slider

@pinkpanda3310

So from what i’m understanding you are saying side by side tint shots are a poor way of capturing the tint of a given light

no and yes
I think there are two separate goals and strategies that are being confounded…

I often compare lights to each other, and observe that the tints look different, depending what lights Im comparing. As in my photos. That is the reason I titled the thread
Tint Perception depends on what it is being compared to

no because

1. my eyes interpret the tint relationship to each other of two beams side by side, similarly to what my auto white balance photos demonstrate

yes because
2. how a camera represents the tint of two beams, to a specific (preferably D55 daylight) white balance, is NOT going to show relative tint between the two beams. It shows relative tint to the selected white balance instead.

with scenario 1, the photo shows what my eyes see when looking at two beams side by side

with scenario 2, the photo only shows the beams relationship to the selected white balance. This is useful when photographing only one beam per photo.

both strategies have their pros and cons… one attempts to represent what the brain sees when comparing two beams to each other… the other attempts to represent what the camera sees, when comparing beams to a standard white balance reference.

…

now to extrapolate

when I shine a single beam on a white piece of paper at night (incandescent brain white balance), the tint looks very different, than when I shine the same light on a white piece of paper during the day (daylight brain balance)

I think this goes to help explain why I know my sw45k has pink tint (when I compare it to daylight), while I can honestly say it looks very white, even too blue at times, and I dont see the pink (when I compare to incandescent)

and from there
people that say sw45 is Too Pink, are probably white balanced to daylight, while I mostly use my lights, when Im white balanced to incandescent… (so I dont mind the pink during the day, cause I like the tint at night…)

similarly people who dont see the green tint that is so obvious to me in a 219c, are probably using the light when their brain is daylight white balanced (daylight has greener tint than incandescent).

Basically you are describing the difference between a quantitative comparison and a qualitative comparison.

A quantitative comparison is based a given reference point and absolute measurements (fixed white balance).

A qualitative comparison is based on observation and perception (auto white balance).

Both are useful for different purposes depending on what information you are trying to extrapolate.

[jon_slider]

@Rayoui

Basically you are describing the difference between a quantitative comparison and a qualitative comparison.

A quantitative comparison is based a given reference point and absolute measurements (fixed white balance).

A qualitative comparison is based on observation and perception (auto white balance).

Both are useful for different purposes depending on what information you are trying to extrapolate.

Thank you Sir!

I very much appreciate you taking the time to help me understand the utility of both, qualitative, and quantitative approaches.

I believe you are correct that the photos I posted, are qualitative comparisons.