false color

American  

noun

1. photography using infrared-sensitive film that produces images in which heat-emitting areas or objects appear red.

---

Other Word Forms

• false-color adjective

Etymology

Origin of false color

First recorded in 1965–70

Example Sentences

Researchers then use false color to translate these otherwise-invisible wavelengths into a visible image.

From Scientific American • Nov. 8, 2023

Figure 22.5 Deinococcus radiodurans, visualized in this false color transmission electron micrograph, is a prokaryote that can tolerate very high doses of ionizing radiation.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

Scanning electron microscope image of modern pollen with false color added to distinguish plant species.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2017

The false color looks so very false on such occasions.

From The Lion's Skin by Sabatini, Rafael

And first of all let us say frankly that Parton, whose work is likely long to remain the standard biography of Franklin, gives a false color to the religious experience of his hero.

From Benjamin Franklin by More, Paul Elmer