color gamut A screen is basically the range of colors that the particular display can reproduce. Each screen has a range of colors that it can display, as some phone screens claim to display around 16.7 million colors. But, the human eye can see billions of colors, which is far more than any available display. This means that the color gamut of each screen is limited as they cannot produce all colors.
Different displays reproduce colors differently as they come with different color gamut ranges. For example, if you watch a YouTube video on your smartphone and if you watch the same video on your PC, you will be able to see the difference in the color profiles of the different screens. This is because not all displays can produce the same 16.7 million colors. This is why two different displays show different colors for the same content.
Is the color gamut important for a display?
Content creators such as photographers and videographers face a major challenge when they are unable to reproduce uniform colors across panels. The reason for this was to standardize the color gamut to ensure that the colors the cameras are shooting appeared the same on all displays.
What is the standard RGB color gamut for a display
The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) has come up with a standard color gamut called Standard RGB (sRGB) to solve the problem of different displays reproducing different degrees of the same color. It defines a minimum range of colors that need to be reproduced in order for photos and videos to appear roughly the same across every display.
However, not all displays can reproduce 100 percent of the sRGB color gamut. But, the industry is trying to adhere to the standard and there are only minor differences that can be found on most modern displays. However, it is important for users to verify the percentage of sRGB color gamut the display covers. There are some modern displays that can reproduce more colors than a regular display panel with a feature called ‘wide color gamut’.
What is the Adobe RGB color gamut and how is it important for printing?
Adobe introduced this color gamut in 1998 to compete for sRGB to become the standard. But, it was rarely used as earlier the technology had some limitations and did not gain traction until recently. Adobe RGB is now the standard color gamut for the printing industry because colors in the sRGB gamut appear dull and lifeless on print.
It has a wide color gamut and can cover about 50 percent of the visible spectrum, which is much more than sRGB. This simply means that Adobe RGB has a wider range of colors, with a larger difference between each color. Most modern high-end displays target both the sRGB and Adobe RGB color gamuts and list the coverage of both gamuts as a percentage. Therefore, users who require a monitor for printing and other business purposes should opt for a screen with a wide color gamut. Be more careful about Adobe RGB coverage as almost all professional monitors come with 100 percent sRGB coverage.
What is the DCI-P3 color gamut and how does it help in filmmaking
DCI-P3 has a more wide color gamut, about 25 percent wider than sRGB. To standardize color reproduction for cinema, the Society of Motion Pictures and Television Engineers introduced the DCI-P3 color gamut.
Movie and video makers use cameras capable of DCI-P3 to ensure that footage looks as expected on large screens. In addition, all modern cinema projectors can reproduce 100 percent of the DCI-P3 color gamut.
Professionals prefer this color gamut because it produces more realistic and vivid colors. Monitors that target professionals list their DCI-P3 coverage details along with their sRGB and Adobe RGB coverage percentages.
Color gamuts that users should be aware of
Make sure the new display you buy covers the entire sRGB color gamut or goes as close to 100 percent as possible. Either display becomes an option to consider whether it covers a good amount of Adobe RGB or DCI-P3 with 100 percent sRGB. However, there are other gamuts such as NTSC, which is a standard for TVs and sRGB covers 72% of the color gamut.
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