No, there isn't an unknown color in the sense of a color that physically exists but hasn't been discovered. Our perception of color is entirely determined by our brain's interpretation of light wavelengths received by our eyes. As one source states, "Color is entirely decided within our neural system by how much our red, green, and blue cones are being excited by the incoming stimulus."1 While we might not have names for all possible color combinations, the underlying physical phenomenon is well-understood.
However, the question could be interpreted in different ways:
1. Unseen Colors:
While all possible colors are theoretically within the range of human visual perception based on our cone cells, there are colors we cannot perceive directly. These include "impossible colors" like red-green and yellow-blue. These are pairs of opponent colors whose light frequencies cancel each other out in our visual system.2 They exist physically, but not within our visual experience.
2. Unnamed Colors:
Many colors exist for which we don't have specific names. The vastness of the color spectrum means countless variations are unnamed. A website highlights "obscure colors that are actually beautiful,"3 demonstrating the existence of many shades without commonly used names. This doesn't mean the colors are unknown; rather, they lack common nomenclature.
3. Colors in Technological Contexts:
In various technological applications, "unknown color" may refer to errors or glitches. For instance, error messages like "unknown color name" in programming contexts 4,5,6,7,8 signify that a system fails to recognize or process a color specification correctly. This does not indicate the existence of a new color but rather a failure in the system’s interpretation.
References:
1. Quora: Is it true that there exist unknown colors that the human eye cannot see? https://www.quora.com/Is-it-true-that-there-exist-unknown-colors-that-the-human-eye-cannot-see-If-so-how-are-we-unaware-of-them
2. Live Science: Red-Green & Blue-Yellow: The Stunning Colors You Can't See https://www.livescience.com/17948-red-green-blue-yellow-stunning-colors.html
3. House Beautiful: Discover 17 Obscure Colors That Are Actually Beautiful https://www.housebeautiful.com/room-decorating/colors/a38426054/obscure-colors/
4. Stack Overflow: CSS - Darken on hover with unknown color https://stackoverflow.com/questions/27878304/css-darken-on-hover-with-unknown-color
5. GitHub Issue: [Bug] unknown color name "1234567890" https://github.com/PySimpleGUI/PySimpleGUI/issues/2697
6. The Indie Stone Forums: HELP NEEDED: "unknown colors found" https://theindiestone.com/forums/index.php?/topic/54727-help-needed-unknown-colors-found/
7. Qt Forum: Warning-Unknown color name '#0000' https://forum.qt.io/topic/108359/warning-unknown-color-name-0000
8. Reddit: Unknown color for provincedef https://www.reddit.com/r/EU4mods/comments/7il6kq/unknown_color_for_provincedef/
