false color

noun

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

Other Words From

• false-color adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of false color¹

First recorded in 1965–70

Example Sentences

False color images give us a glimpse into this dynamic world, but traditional methods such as spectrophotometry are often time consuming, require specific lighting conditions, and cannot capture moving images.

From Science Daily

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

From Scientific American

It was overlaid with false color to emphasize hot spots and burned areas.

From Los Angeles Times

The false color has the added benefit of creating some very beautiful and otherworldly images.

From National Geographic

False color scanning electron micrograph of Vibrio vulnificus, a species of Gram-negative, motile, curved, rod-shaped, pathogenic bacteria of the genus Vibrio that lives in marine environments such as estuaries, brackish ponds, or coastal areas.

From Salon