This document specifies a method of calculating the coordinates of the CIE 1976 L*a*b* colour space, including correlates of lightness, chroma and hue. It includes two methods for calculating Euclidean distances in this space to represent the perceived magnitude of colour differences. This document is applicable to tristimulus values calculated using colour-matching functions of the CIE 1931 standard colorimetric system or the CIE 1964 standard colorimetric system. This document can be used for the specification of colour stimuli perceived as belonging to a reflecting or transmitting object, where a three-dimensional space more uniform than tristimulus space is required. This document does not apply to colour stimuli perceived as belonging to an area that appears to be emitting light as a primary light source, or that appears to be specularly reflecting such light. This document is applicable to self-luminous displays, such as cathode ray tubes, if they are being used to simulate reflecting or transmitting objects and if the stimuli are appropriately normalized. Calculating the reverse transformation is shown in Annex A.