A number of people have noticed that we don't show the actual colour of the background - here is a brief summary of the reasons why:
- The many different types of monitor on the market can display the same colours in different ways. For example if you're reading this on a laptop then the LCD display will be giving a different effective view of the colour of this page to a conventional CRT monitor (even if you are using the same colour space). Aperture Grill CRTs (such as the Sony Trinitron) can also lead to subtle differences in perceived colour.
For further information on different types of monitor, go here. - The brightness and contrast settings you have chosen will also have an effect on the perceived colour.
- Your monitor may be set to 6500K or 9200K colour temperature, leading to a marked difference in colour rendition.
- Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape browsers display colours differently.
- PC and Macintosh systems display colours differently.
- Browsers render colour using HEX values (e.g. #FFFFFF = White), which currently do not directly relate to the colours used by Colorama.
- Your monitor may be set at any one of a number of "colour depths", e.g. 256 colours, 16 bit, 24 bit, etc. When a colour is specified the monitor will need to approximate it using red, green and blue pixels, and the lesser the colour depth the more likely the potential for inaccuracy.
- For a good overview of Websafe Colours, including some useful coverage of the side-issues mentioned above, go here: http://hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey/00/37/index2a.html?tw=design
As anyone who has ever used a household paint catalogue will know "colours cannot be guaranteed accurate" when printed (so this situation, although regrettable, is not exactly without precedent). To get an accurate example you really need to see a sample of the actual paint.
The same holds true for colours on the internet. There is honestly no way to depict the subtle difference between Polar White and Arctic White, for example.
Rather than mislead customers with an inaccurate approximation of the background's colour we have opted to make them available "as is". Many customers have previously bought backgrounds and so already know which colour they want, or use swatches to establish exactly which they need.
If you would like to see a sample of a particular colour before you buy we recommend contacting Colorama themselves, who can post a sample of the actual background paper. They can be contacted via their website at:
www.coloramaphotodisplay.co.uk