Color Study

Color
It is the frequency of a light wave within the bandwidth located in the electromagnetic
spectrum where human eye can catch it. The range of frequencies which are higher than the
maximum of the above bandwidth is called as the ultraviolet region while the lower
frequencies are in the infrared region. Every visible color in the spectrum is a combination of
the three basic colors which are Red, Green and Blue.

Color Depth And Color Pallets

In general, a picture is a collection of pixels where each pixel has a unique color. The number
of colors that a pixel can have is defined as the color depth. The color depth is equal to two to
the power of number of bits that image have. For example an 8bit color image can have 256
colors to represent a one pixel and a 16bit color image can have 65536 colors to represent a
single pixel. A color pallet is a mathematical table that defines the available color of a pixel.
They are also called as the Color Look Up Tables. Most common pallets are of 1, 4,5,16 and
24 in bit depths.

Web safe colors are the colors that are being shared by the Windows and Mac operating
system pallets. There is a combination of color codes ‘00’, ’33’, ‘66’, ‘99’, ‘CC’, ‘FF’ for
each color in the web safe color palette. Each color is defined with three pairs of numbers.

Color Models
Color Model is the way to specify colors in the terms of computer. RGB, SGB, HSL, CMYK,
CIE are some of them. It represents color in a mathematical system.

RGB is the most famous color model from all. It contains Red, Green and Blue which are the
primary colors of light. The 24-bit RGB color system represents each color by providing 8-
bits for each color. Therefore there are 256 shades of each red, green and blue color.

HSB is a combination of Hue, Saturation and Brightness. Every color has 3numbers from
each representation. Hue is a value between 0 to 360 degrees. The next number saturation is a
percentage value between 0 and 100. The last one is brightness that can have a value between
0 and 100. HSL is the replacement of lightness for the brightness in HSB. Lightness means
the black color availability of the color.

HSI color model includes a parameter for the intensity. The distance unit percentage from the
center of the HSI color pyramid is defined as the Saturation. Intensity defines the distance up
axis from black which will be ‘0’ or ‘1’.

CMYK color model is a collection of Cyan Magenta Yellow and black and it is the color
model used in printers as well. Cyan is the while light without red. Magenta is while light
without green. Yellow is white light without blue. But this model is less applicable in
multimedia production. They are the primary colors of pigments that are used to make the
other colors in practical.

Analogous And Complementary Colors

Analogous Colors are defined as any close three colors on a 12 colored color wheel. The
nature is the best example for a practical place where the Analogous combination can be
found. There is lot of varieties of greens that are closer to each other in the jungles as well.
They are very much pleasant to the eye because of the less change in it. Also it has less
attraction in it due to the low color change n it. Split Analogous colors are the colors that are
located once after a once in the color wheel.

Complementary Colors are any two colors that are located one against one. They are very
hard to pick up on human eyes and it shows things highlighted. Places where to find quick
attraction can be colored with complementary colors. Although these combinations are not
that cool for eyes, it will not be a good implementation for the pictures that should keep the
eye for a long time. Split-complementary color scheme are the ones that have one hue but
located in each one’s opposition.