Examining Implicit Discretization in Spectral Schemes. (10th July 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Quinan, P. S.; Padilla, L. M.; Creem‐Regehr, S. H.; Meyer, M.
• Is Part Of: Computer graphics forum. Volume 38:Number 3(2019)
• Page Start: 363
• Page End: 374
• Publication Date: 2019-07-10
• Subjects: CCS Concepts -- Human‐centered computing → Empirical studies in visualization; Computer graphics -- Periodicals; 006.605
• DOI: 10.1111/cgf.13695
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0167-7055

Abstract

Abstract: Two of the primary reasons rainbow color maps are considered ineffective trace back to the idea that they implicitly discretize encoded data into hue‐based bands, yet no research addresses what this discretization looks like or how consistent it is across individuals. This paper presents an exploratory study designed to empirically investigate the implicit discretization of common spectral schemes and explore whether the phenomenon can be modeled by variations in lightness, chroma, and hue. Our results suggest that three commonly used rainbow color maps are implicitly discretized with consistency across individuals. The results also indicate, however, that this implicit discretization varies across different datasets, in a way that suggests the visualization community's understanding of both rainbow color maps, and more generally effective color usage, remains incomplete.