© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

R. Shamey, R. G. KuehniPioneers of Color Sciencehttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-30811-1_74

74. Richter, Manfred 1905–1990

Renzo Shamey¹   and Rolf G. Kuehni¹  

(1)

Color Science and Imaging Laboratory, North Carolina State University, Wilson College of Textiles, Raleigh, NC, USA

 

 

Renzo Shamey (Corresponding author)

Email: rshamey@ncsu.edu

 

Rolf G. Kuehni

Email: rolf_kuehni@ncsu.edu

74.1 Din6164

References

Source Manfred Richter

Richter was born on August 7, 1905, in Dresden, Germany, where he studied technical physics under Robert Luther at the Technical University from 1924 to 1933. The subject of his doctoral dissertation was Goethe’s Farbenlehre as related to scientific problems [1]. In 1927, as an assistant in the department of color research of the German Institute of Textile Research and following Helmholtz’s assistant Arthur König, he developed an international bibliography of publications in color science, an effort he continued until the mid-1950s [2]. In 1934, he began work in the laboratories of the lamp manufacturer OSRAM in Berlin. In 1943, he transitioned to the Materialprüfungsanstalt (Office for testing of materials, later named Bundesanstalt für Materialprüfung (BAM), where he remained until 1962 and where he organized a color research laboratory. In 1941, he was asked by Deutsches Institut für Normung (DIN, German institute for industrial standards) to develop a standard color system and atlas, an effort that kept him occupied for an extended period. It is known today as DIN6164. He was also a professor at the Institut für Lichttechnik (Institute for lighting technology) of the Berlin Technical University. In 1949, he was a founding member of the Fachnormenausschuss Farbe (FNF, Color standards committee) [3]. He was a leading member of Deutsche farbwissenschaftliche Gesellschaft (DfwG, German society for color science, founded in 1974) and a leading force for the journal Die Farbe (1951–2003). He was a member of the directorial board of the International Association of Colour (AIC) and active in several research committees of the International Commission on Illumination (CIE). His passing on April 20, 1990 was the result of a traffic accident.

74.1 Din6164

Richter’s plan for a standard color system and atlas was that it needed to be based on well-supported colorimetric data, thereby not limited to colorants involved. A starting point was Ostwald’s color atlas and the Luther–Nyberg color solid. The system was to be perceptually uniform. As perceptual parameters, he selected hue (T), saturation (S), and degree of darkness (D). Lacking a satisfactory colorimetric model of hue scaling he proceeded to experimentally determine a constant saturation contour in the CIE chromaticity diagram separated into 24 perceptually equal hue differences. He then scaled saturation from the neutral point to the spectral limit into up to 16 levels. The darkness scale D is based on logarithmic scaling of the relative brightness value scale proposed in 1928 by S. Rösch. It has a value of 0 for white and 10 for black. A schematic cross section of the system is shown in Fig. 74.1.

Fig. 74.1

(Left) Schematic representation of the samples of hues T1 and T16 in the S, D diagram [4]

Atlases were published in 1960/1962 with matte samples and 1978/1983 with glossy samples. Figure 74.2 shows a 3D model of the system. As its name indicates, DIN6164 is a German industrial standard system.

Fig. 74.2

(Right) 3D representation of the samples of the DIN6164 system [4]

In 1940, Richter published a book on color science, with the cooperation of I. Schmidt and A. Dresler, that presented the subject in at that time likely the most comprehensive and detailed fashion [2]. Given the Second World War, it was never translated into English. In 1976, he published Einführung in die Farbmetrik (Introduction to color metrics) [5].

References

1. 1.
   M. Richter, Das Schrifttum über Goethes Farbenlehre, mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der naturwissenschaftlichen Probleme (Pfau, Berlin, 1938)
2. 2.
   M. Richter, (with collaboration of I. Schmidt and A. Dresler), Grundriss der Farbenlehre der Gegenwart (basics of the color science of the present) (Steinkopff, Dresden, 1940)
3. 3.
   M. Richter, Internationale Bibliographie der Farbenlehre und ihrer Grenzgebiete, 2, 1940–1949 and 1950–1954. Göttingen: Musterschmidt
4. 4.
   M. Richter, K. Witt, The story of the DIN color system. Color Res. Appl. 11, 138–148 (1986)Crossref
5. 5.
   M. Richter, Einführung in die Farbmetrik (de Gruyter, Berlin, 1976)Crossref