Color Space
A coordinate system for representing colors numerically. sRGB, Display P3, and Adobe RGB define different gamuts.
A color space is a mathematical model that defines and reproduces human-perceivable colors as numerical values. Each color space specifies a gamut (the range of representable colors) and an encoding scheme for color values. ICC profiles enable color space conversion between devices for consistent color reproduction.
The most important RGB color spaces represent colors as mixtures of red, green, and blue primaries. Identical RGB values produce different visible colors in different color spaces, making correct assignment and conversion essential.
- sRGB: The standard for web and general-purpose displays. Its relatively narrow gamut is accurately reproduced by virtually all devices. Images without an embedded ICC profile are interpreted as sRGB
- Display P3: A wide-gamut standard promoted by Apple. Approximately 25% wider than sRGB, supported by iPhone and Mac displays
- Adobe RGB: A wide-gamut standard for print workflows. Offers better CMYK gamut coverage than sRGB
- ProPhoto RGB: An ultra-wide gamut covering nearly all human-perceivable colors. Used as the working space for RAW development but requires 16-bit depth minimum
In web development, CSS Color Level 4 introduces color(display-p3 1 0 0) syntax for wide-gamut specification. However, sRGB fallbacks must always be provided for non-supporting environments.