5. A program storage device readable by machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform method steps for assigning a color name, said method steps comprising the steps of claim 1 .
1. A method comprising employing a vocabulary of color names in assigning a color name to a pixel in a digital representation, including the steps of: forming said vocabulary of color names by obtaining at least one general set of essential color names, each essential color name having a corresponding color value, whereby each color name includes a hue descriptor, brightness modifier, and saturation modifier; and selecting a subset of said at least one general set in meeting an application desire for said vocabulary of color names wherein the step of obtaining includes starting with a large number of arbitrary color names having corresponding color values and modify said color names through subjective experiments to obtain a general set that models human behavior in color naming; providing said vocabulary of color names with a plurality of color prototypes, each said color prototype having a prototype color name and a corresponding prototype color value; comparing a pixel color value of said pixel to said prototype color value of each color prototype in the vocabulary, and obtaining a color match value for said each color prototype in the vocabulary; determining a closest color match value resulting from said step of comparing; and assigning to said pixel a particular prototype color name corresponding to said closest match value.