Color Models in Image
Color
• Produced by light of various wavelengths -
when light strikes an object and reflects
back to the eyes
Color
• An element of art with three properties:
– Hue : The name given to a color
• Example: red, yellow, blue
– Intensity: purity and strength of a color
– Value: the lightness or darkness of a color
Color
• There are two different ways to combine
colors
– additive color mixing
– subtractive
Additive color mixing
• Combining lights of two different colors
• The primary colors are red, green & blue
• secondary colors are cyan, magenta and yellow
• Used in display devices: CRTs, LCDs
Subtractive color mixing
• Describes how two colored paints or inks
combine on a piece of paper.
• Primaries are: Cyan, Magenta, &Yellow
• Used for printers
Color Models
• Color models:
– Different ways of representing information about
color
– Example:
• RGB
• HSB
• CMYK
HSB Model
• Based on human perception of color, describe
three fundamental properties of color:
– Hue
– Saturation (or chroma)
– Brightness - relative lightness or darkness of color,
also measured as %
HSB Model
• Hue - color reflected from or transmitted through an
object, measured on color wheel
HSB Model
• Saturation (or chroma) - strength or purity of color
HSB Model
• Brightness - relative lightness or darkness of
color, also measured as %
0% 50% 100%
Black white
RGB Color Model
• uses additive colors
• specifies colors according to R,G, & B
components
• can be visualized as a cube
CMYK Color Model
• Based on light-absorbing quality of ink printed on
paper
• As light is absorbed, part of the spectrum is absorbed
and part is reflected back to eyes
• specifies colors according to C, M,& Y components
• Combination of C, M and Y results Black
CMYK Color Model
• In theory, pure colors should produce black,
but printing inks contain impurities, so this
combination produces muddy brown
• K is needed to produce pure black, hence
CMYK is four-color process printing
