Brightness

The perceived amount of light emitted, transmitted or reflected by an object.

Digital image of banana. The right side of the banana appears brighter than the left side. However, the set of colour attributes of the whole banana specified by its measured hue, lightness and chroma, is the same throughout the entire banana. Image courtesy of Paul Green-Armytage.

Example: In the image of the banana, the right side of the banana appears brighter than the left side. The right side appears to reflect more light than the left. However, the set of colour attributes of the whole banana specified by its measured hue, lightness and chroma, is the same throughout the entire banana.

Note that the term ‘bright’ is a term often used in everyday language to refer to the vividness or vibrancy of a colour, however the term ‘brightness’ has a precise definition as a formal scientific concept, as given here.


See also: Colourfulness and Colour attributes.