2.3. Comparing Color Spaces

Red, green, and blue are the colors of a color model we call RGB, A color model is an abstract way of mathematically describing colors. We need a common vocabulary when we discuss specific RGB colors within that model. Otherwise, when I say "red," how do I know you're thinking about the same color that I'm thinking about?

We further classify colors into color spaces. A color space, among other things, defines the gamut of color that a device is capable of capturing or reproducing. For example, my monitor is capable of displaying only a certain palette of colors. Many of the colors I can see out in nature can't be displayed on my monitor. However, my monitor can display colors that can't be printed on my inkjet printer. The monitor's gamut isn't as large as the spectrum that a human eye can see, but in some cases it's larger than the gamut of the printer. These kinds of color spaces—monitor and printer—are called dcvice-clcpcndeni color spaces. A device-dependent color space describes the range oJ colors that a particular device can see and/or reproduce.