When you are looking at the features of a PC monitor , you will find that color space is very often talked about . Many people confuse it with the color spectrum that it is capable of displaying, but this is a mistake and, for this reason, today we are going to explain what the color space of a monitor is and how it affects its operation.
When you read the characteristics of a monitor, very often you will find phrases like “it covers 90% of the sRGB color space”, and you may think that it is bad, or if you read “it covers 100% of the Adobe RGB color space” you may think which is good. But what is the color space of the monitor and why is it important?
What is the color space of a monitor
Color space refers to the set of colors that define a standard. That standard can have a very broad definition, from a set of paint samples to the digital representation of color on a PC monitor, which is what concerns us.
Color space is therefore the definition of a standard that aims to ensure a level of consistency. These standards, which surely sound better to you because they are effectively for example Adobe RGB or sRGB, are abstract mathematical ways of defining colors and for this reason you will see them generally represented as we have put you in the image above: in Cartesian axes and delimited by values.
What are color spaces based on?
Like mathematical formulas that are, the standards that represent color spaces have to be based on something for their definition. This is where we find the two most common: RGB (red, green, and blue) and CYMK (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black). The RGB standard is the most normal in PC monitors because it is based on how they represent images, with a trio of dots each of a color, while the CYMK standard is rather for printers and colors that we can see in the world real.
Thus, the two most common color spaces in computing are Adobe RGB, defined by Adobe and designed so that the images we see on the screen are later captured in a printing press, and the sRGB color space, defined by HP and Microsoft in 1998 and thought to visualize images through Internet.
Color accuracy
Ok, you know that a color space is nothing but the definition of a standard, established at a certain time and in a certain way. You also know that there are different types that cover different parts of the spectrum of visible light (now it is the spectrum and not space), but one more thing remains to be known: the precision of color.
If you are fans of movies and series, surely you have stumbled upon some that are specified as being 10 bits. Why is this Because these bits define color precision, since until recently it was normal for images to be defined with 8-bit precision. Look at this image, which will explain it graphically very easily.
As you can see, the 10 bits have much higher precision because the “jumps” between colors have much less pronounced steps, and essentially makes it look better. Of course, it must be borne in mind that in order for you to enjoy this color accuracy, you will not only need that the format of the video or image is like this, but also that the monitor is compatible, so be careful with that.