the picture disc question i can't really say anything about, as we don't do them.
the short answer on color is that it, in my experience, is exactly as susceptible to surface noise/etc as black, but it melts at a lower temperature, which makes it more susceptible to warping and also perhaps wear and tear. we use two different brands of colored vinyl and the only colors that seem to be sub-par sound-wise are glow in the dark and a brand new version of white by a certain brand. the white just seems like these guys haven't gotten their formula down yet and the noise floor is just a bit higher than i'm used to. this isn't to say that white records sound bad... i'm assuming 99.9% of white records made in the states in last 5 years are mostly from the same brand and that stuff sounds great.
