On Mon, Mar 19, 2012 at 5:05 PM, Miriam English
<mim@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Because we only have 3 color detector cells in our eyes we can imitate any color with various combinations of red, green, and blue lights mixed together in varying amounts.
Unfortunately it's not that simple. The idea is that if we could independently stimulate each of the three colors receptors (cones) in our eyes, then we could reproduce any visual sensation and thereby any color. The problem is that this is impossible. There's no such thing as a wavelength of light that stimulates the middle (green) cones without also stimulating either of the outer two. There's significant overlap in their spectral response.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/Cones_SMJ2_E.svg-Christopher
