A new design of a softproofing system for accurate colour matching is presented in the first part of this paper. In a cabinet, an LCD display is mounted in the viewing plane and illuminated by fluorescent tubes. This arrangement allows for the direct visual comparison of original surface colours with their displayed reproductions face to face. Test colours are placed in cutouts of a mask on top of the screen for colour matching experiments (colour checker mask) or for calibration purposes. The device provides a means for very sensitive proofing of the reproduction algorithm and offers the study of the variability between different observers. The reproduction algorithm applied is based on the spectral specification of all the essential components of the system and allows for fast switching between colour matching functions of different observers considered. Experimental results and studies on the reproduction for different observers and observer metamerism problems are presented in the second part of the paper. Colour matching experiments for a white colour under different illuminants have been performed for a number of different persons. The results show very well reproducible shifts of the experimentally matched colours in the chromaticity diagram, if compared with the original colours for the CIE 1931 standard observer. The results differ for the left and right eye matches for most of the observers. Any person exhibits a typical direction of the shifts like a personal characteristic or a "finger print", yet, the directions of shifts in the chromaticity diagram are different for different observers and any direction might appear. All the shifts of all persons form a cloud around the original colour in the chromaticity diagram.
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