Applied Research

Influence of Color Output Sequences (COS) on the Gray Balance in a Color Managed Digital Printing Workflow (CMDPW)

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Abstract

Thepurpose of this applied research in the digital print production was todetermine the influence of applied Color Output Sequences (COS) to determinethe colorimetric variations (COLVA) on the gray balance (GB) hue in a ColorManaged Digital Printing Workflow (CMDPW). This was done by applying a mismatchof device/print characteristics (Calibration, Characterization, and HalftoneScreening techniques) to the printing. The experiment analyzed the applicationof eight COS on the digital color output. The data contained in this report arethe result of an experiment conducted to test an accepted color managementpractice to gain a greater understanding of the presumptions associated withthe application of correct print conditions (Calibration, Screening,Resolution, Source and Destination Profiles) of CMDPW. These conditions rely onthe 4-C’s (Calibration, Characterization, Conversion and Control) of ColorManaged Workflow (CMW). The experiment examined the eight COS as independentgroups (K = 8) using a one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) with equal n (equalsample size) method (at a = 0.05) to determine the significantcolorimetric variations that exist among the [K = 8, N = 800, n_i = 80, n_t = 640]groups gray balance average hue deviations. With eight groups, aone-tailed, non-directional hypothesis was established. The conclusions of thisstudy are based upon an analysis of the COLVA by ANOVA test data and associatedfindings.  The data from the ANOVArevealed significant differences in the COLVA of the reproduction among themultiple COS groups. The colorimetric data derived by the experiment suggest thatselection of correct print parameters is an important step in a CMDPW as itrelates to achieving accurate GB for a desired use/purpose.

Keywords: Color Output Sequence (COS), Calibration, Color, Colorimetry, Gamut, Profiling, Screening

How to Cite:

DHARAVATH, H., (2025) “Influence of Color Output Sequences (COS) on the Gray Balance in a Color Managed Digital Printing Workflow (CMDPW)”, The Journal of Technology, Management, and Applied Engineering 1(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.31274/jtmae.17002