[matplotlib-devel] RFC: candidates for a new default colormap

[Nathaniel S. <nj...@po...>]

Hi all,

As was hinted at in a previous thread, Stéfan van der Walt and I have
been using some Fancy Color Technology to attempt to design a new
colormap intended to become matplotlib's new default. (Down with jet!)

Unfortunately, while our Fancy Color Technology includes a
computational model of perceptual distance, it does not include a
computational model of aesthetics. So this is where you come in.

We've put up three reasonable candidates at:
    https://bids.github.io/colormap/
(along with some well-known colormaps for comparison), and we'd like
your feedback.

They are all optimal on all of the objective criteria we know how to
measure. What we need judgements on is which one you like best, both
aesthetically and as a way of visualizing data. (There are some sample
plots to look at there, plus you can download them and play with them
on your own data if you want.)

We especially value input from anyone with anomalous color vision.
There are some simulations there, but computational models are
inherently limited here. (It's difficult to ask someone with
colorblindness "does this look to you, the same way this other picture
looks to me?")

-n

-- 
Nathaniel J. Smith -- http://vorpus.org