Color Models

Assoc. Prof. Mohamed AbdelNasser

 Colors
❑Colors of an object
▪ Light source emits “white light” (all
frequencies of light)
▪ Object reflects/absorbs some
frequencies
▪ Color = combination of frequencies
reflected
❑Dominant wavelength (or
frequency)
▪ Hue or color of the light
▪ E.g., pink
 Color Models

❑ A color model is a system that

helps us to define and describe
colors through numerical
values.
❑ A color is a specification of a
color coordinate system and the
subset of visible colors in this
coordinate system.
❑ Conversion formulas between
the color models have to be
given.

HSV is often used in computer vision,

design, and high-quality graphics
 Color Concepts

❑A color can be made lighter by adding ❑Hue: it is an actual color

white or darker by adding black. ❑Saturation: indicates amount of grey in a color
❑Therefore, graphics packages provide ❑Brightness: tells the difference between a bread
color palettes to a user which has two and a burnt toast i.e. how much black (or white)
or more color models. is mixed in a color.

❑Color models: use three primary colors to produce other colors

❑Primary colors
➢ Colors used in a color model to produce all the other colors in that model.
➢ They cannot be made from the other (two) colors defining the model.
 RGB Color Model
RGB color model is represented by a unit cube with one corner located at the origin of a
3D color coordinate system.

❑ The origin represents black and the vertex with coordinates (1,1,1) is white.
❑ Vertices of the cube on the axes represent the primary colors, and the remaining vertices
represent the complementary color for each of the primary colors.
❑ Complementary colors: are pair of colors which, when combined cancels each other out.
 RGB Color Model
❑ The RGB color scheme is an additive model. Intensities of the primary colors are added to
produce other colors.
❑ Each color point within the bounds of the cube can be represented as the triple (R,G, B),
where values for R, G, and B are assigned in the range from 0 to 1.

C = rR + gG + bB, where r, g, b  [0, 1]

R = (1, 0, 0)
G = (0, 1, 0)
B = (0, 0, 1)
Examples:
❑ It is an additive model means to produce magenta; vertex is obtained by adding red(1,0,0)
blue (0,0,1) to get (1,0,1) which is the coordinate of magenta.
❑ White at (1,1,1) is the sum of red(1,0,0), green(0,1,0), and blue (0,0,1).
 RGB Color Model
Color Cube
❑ R + G = (1, 0, 0) + (0, 1, 0) = (1, 1, 0) = Y
❑ R + B = (1, 0, 0) + (0, 0, 1) = (1, 0, 1) = M
❑ B + G = (0, 0, 1) + (0, 1, 0) = (0, 1, 1) = C
❑ R + G + B = (1, 1, 1) = W
❑ 1 – W = (0, 0, 0) = BLK
❑ Grays = (x, x, x), where x  (0, 1)

❑ Shades of gray are represented along the main diagonal of the cube from the origin
(black) to the white vertex.
❑ Each point along this diagonal has an equal contribution from each primary color.
 YIQ Color Model
❑ In the YIQ color model, Luminance (brightness) information is contained in the Y
parameter, while chromaticity information (hue and purity/saturation) is incorporated
into the I and Q parameters.
❑ A combination of red, green, and blue intensities are chosen for the Y parameter.
❑ Black-and-white television monitors use only the Y signal.
❑ Parameter I contains orange-cyan hue information
❑ Q carries green-magenta hue information.
❑ An RGB signal can be converted to a television signal using an NTSC encoder, which
❑ converts RGB values to YIQ values.

Conversion from RGB to YIQ Conversion from YIQ to RGB

 CMY Color Model
❑ The primary color are Cyan, Magenta and Yellow
(CMY).
❑ It is a subtractive model.
❑ CMY model defining color with a subtractive process
inside a unit cube.
❑ The origin represents white light.
❑ In the CMY model, point (1, 1, 1) represents black,
because all components of the incident light are
subtracted.
❑ Equal amounts of each of the primary colors produce
grays, along the main diagonal of the cube.
❑ A combination of cyan and magenta ink produces
blue light, because the red and green components of
the incident light are absorbed.
 CMY Color Model
❑ Subtractive color model: Color specified by what is subtracted from white light.
❑ W = (0, 0, 0) B = (1, 1, 1)
❑ The black color is represented in the CMY system as the unit column vector.

❑ The printing process used with the CMY model generates a color point with a collection of
four ink dots. One dot is used for each of the primary colors and one dot is black.
❑ A black dot is included because the combination of cyan, magenta, and yellow inks produce
gray instead of black.
 HSV Color Model Hexcone

❑ Color parameters in this model are hue

(H), saturation (S) and value(V).
❑ Cylinder coordinate system
➢ Space: hexcone
➢ hexagon is obtained from the color
cube in isometric projection
❑ (h, s, v), where h  [0, 360) and s, v  [0,
1] Color Cube
➢ hue: angle round the hexagon
➢ saturation: distance from the
center
➢ value: axis through the center
❑ The boundary of the hexagon represents
the various hues, and it is used as the top
of the HSV hexcone.
❑ In the hexcone, saturation is measured
along a horizontal axis, and value is along
a vertical axis through the center of the
hexcone.
❑ Hue H angle ranging from 0 deg. through
360 deg. Hexagon
❑ Vertices of the hexagon are separated by
60 deg. intervals.
❑ Complementary colors are 180 deg.
apart.
❑ Saturation S varies from 0 to 1 .
❑ Value V varies from 0 at the apex of the
hexcone to 1 at the top.
 HSV Hexcone

❑Hue: it is an actual color

❑Saturation(intensity): indicates amount of
grey in a color
❑Brightness (value): tells the difference
between a bread and a burnt toast i.e. how
much black (or white) is mixed in a color.
 ❑We describe the color we want in
terms of adding either white or black
to the pure hue.
❑Adding black decreases the setting for
V while S is held constant. To get a dark
blue, V could be set to 0.4 with S = 1
and H = 240 deg.
❑When white is to be added to the hue
selected, parameter S is decreased
while keeping V constant. A light blue
could be designated with S = 0.3 while
V = 1 and H = 240 deg.
Tone is a hue or mixture of pure colors to
which only pure gray is added (equal
amounts of black and white). Adding gray
to a color will make the intensity much
duller.
 Questions
1- What is the CMY co-ordinates of a colour at (0.2, 1, 0.5) in the RGB space?
a) (0.8, 0, 0.5) b) (0.2, 0, 0.1) c) (0.2, 1, 0.5) d) at (0.5, 1, 0.2)
2- Which colour has the shortest wavelength?
a) Yellow b) Red c) Violet d) Green
3-Which among the below set of colours are generally known as the primary colours of light?
a) White, Yellow, Blue b) Red, Green, Blue c) Red, Green, Black d) Black, White, Red
4-What will be the displayed color for the following combination?

a) Yellow b) Magenta c) Cyan d) Pink

5- Which of the following color models are defined with three primary colors ?
a) RGB and HSV b) CMY and HSV c)HSV and HSL d)RGB and CMY

6-A tint is a mixture of a color with…….

a) black b) white c) white and black d) all
7-In the HSV colr model, (-,0,1) represents the black color. This statement is ….
a) correct b) incorrect

8- Which of the following color models is used in printers?

a) HSV b) RGB c) CMY d) YIQ

9- CMY is a subtractive color model. This statement is ….

a) correct b) incorrect
10- Hue indicates amount of grey in a color. This statement is ….
a) correct b) incorrect