Chapter 3 – Color Spaces

Publisher Summary The chapter reviews the common color spaces, how they are mathematically related and when a specific color space is used. A color space is a mathematical representation of a set of colors. All of the color spaces can be derived from the red, green, and blue (RGB) information supplied by devices such as cameras and scanners. The three most popular color models are RGB (used in computer graphics); YIQ, YUV, or YCbCr (used in video systems); and CMYK (used in color printing). Considerations for converting from a non-RGB to a RGB color space and gamma correction are also discussed in the chapter. By “gamma correcting” the video signals before transmission, the intensity output of the display becomes roughly linear and the transmission- induced noise is reduced.