browser (In French navigateur) software for retrieving and viewing multimedia-based Internet sites; the colors are coded in various “web color” models. Only a few standard browsers are capable of using ICC profiles, which is why they are currently used only as tools for selecting sites in high-quality soft copy proof applications.
bronzing (In French bronzage) dryback of colored ink, in particular special colors, into a reddish color.
brilliance (In French brillant, brillance) totality of subjective evaluation criteria such as luminosity, gloss, pigmentation, cleanness or contrast for the visual impression of a printed color surface; brilliance can be increased by applying a coat of paint or by lamination.
brightness (In French luminosité) synonym for the luminosity of a selfluminant body (light source, monitor).
brightening (In French éclaircissement) in the offset printing room the reduction of the color pigment content in the ink by adding transparent white or mixing white, in gravure and flexo printing by blending in the ink duct.
blueness (In French dominante bleue) in the sense of opponent color theory, the hues in the blue area opposite to the yellow hues; representation as color space coordinates: b*<0 (CIELAB) and v’<0 (CIELUV). Each change in proportion in the printing of the process colors CMYK leads to a change in blueness, so that the color that is responsible can only be detected technically and not visually; C, M and K increase B in different spectral…
blooming (In French éblouissement) blurring of the photographed object contours or extreme color variations on account of overexposure through an excessive amount of light; one reason for the replacement of CCD by CMOS sensors in digital photography.
blend white (In French blanc de mélange) color mixing components brightening up through white pigments, see also opaque white, transparent white.
blackness (In French degré de noir) in the sense of sensory color spaces, the achromatic tones of the CIELAB lightness axis L* between 0 and 50.
blackish/grayish drift (In French assombrissement) phenomenon of absorptive interference in which the linear increase of the proportion of a component leads less to a change in hue and mainly to a nonlinear brightness reduction.
black, key (In French noir) process printing ink whose addition compensates for the spectral inadequacies of the chromatic colors CMY. Significance in achromatic and chromatic composition: – “maximum black”: highest tone value that black can achieve in the image shadows (usually 95% in offset printing, seldom more); – “starting point”: the tone value above which black replaces the chromatic colors; – “short black”: supplements/replaces the chromatic colors in the dark tones only; – “long black”:…
black inks 1) (In French encres noires) black printing inks which unlike colored inks can have different grades of transparency, which is why different black formulations are often offered within the framework of a process color series. 2) (In French couleurs foncés) see.
black body (In French corps noir) see Planckian radiator.
bits per pixel, bpp (In French bits par pixel) data depth with which one pixel per color channel is described; this gives the number of gray shades and color values that can be shown. Examples: 1 bpp = 2¹ = 2 tone values, i.e. line and screen graphics, TIFF-G4 bitmaps (printing form separation data); 8 bpp = 2⁸ = 256 gray levels, i.e. black-and-white images; 24 bpp for RGB = 8 bpp per color channel…
bitmap (In French fichier bitmap) file that contains the coordinates of pixels with the relevant gray or color value, whereby all elements represented have the same image-related character, i.e. they are in pixel format; most important formats: JPEG, TIFF and all RAW formats see also Tables D-1 “Data file formats”.
bit/color depth (In French profondeur de pixel/d’échantillonnage) number of lightness levels which a pixel can adopt; “bit depth” means the data depth in a color channel, e.g. “8 bits” means 8 bits per pixel (8 bpp) = 2⁸ = 256 grayscales; “color depth” in an image file, on the other hand, means the number of color channels times pixel depth, “8 bits” then means = 2⁸ × 1 = 256 grayscales, that is, a monochrome…
binder, binding agent/vehicle (In French liant) in printing ink, the carrier substance that surrounds the individual pigment particles and allows them to adhere to the substrate; is also responsible for viscosity and the drying mechanism; in offset, book and screen printing inks: resins (also UV-curing), drying/non-drying mineral and vegetable oils; in gravure and flexo printing inks: solvents, including water.
basic stimulus (In French stimulus de base) the brightest achromatic point or chromaticity coordinates of the illuminant to light up in a color space or a chromaticity chart.
basic colors (In French couleurs de base) see primary colors.
bandwidth (In French largeur de bande) wavelength range in which 1) light sources emit radiation, 2) radiation permeates filters (subdivision into “narrow-band” and “broad-band”).
