Computer Graphics

Light and color and different color models

 Light and Color
 Light is an electromagnetic wave. (similar to
sound wave in terms of frequencies)
 But electromagnetic Wave can propagate in
vacuum.
 Electromagnetic wave contains variety of
frequencies.
 The eye is very sensitive to the very narrow
band of frequencies. (i.e frequencies between
429 THz and 750 THz.) [1 Thz = 1 TeraHertz
= 10^12 Hz]
 Light and Color
 Monochromatic wave refers to a wave with single wavelength and
frequency. It's always only one colour.
 The waves may be coherent and noncoherent depending on the phase
difference between the waves.
Sine Wave representation of monochromatic
light
 The height of the sine wave is the amplitude or
how bright the light is.
 The width of one period (called lambda) is the
wavelength of the light and inversely related to
frequency.
 The visible spectrum of light has wavelength
from around 400 to 700nm. (1nm = 10^-9 meter)
Electromagnetic Spectrum
 Physical Background

• Visible light: a narrow band of

electromagnetic radiation →
(400nm to 700 nm)

• Wavelength: Each physically

distinct colour corresponds to
at least one wavelength in this
band.
 Visible spectrum
 This visible spectrum shows all the possible
colors that can be made out of monochromatic
light. Eg, lasers natrium lights etc.
 In general light is multi-chromatic. For
example, the sun sends out white light, which
is light that contains all frequencies!
i.e the sum of red, yellow,green., blue, and violet
light looks like white. Infact it’s not white at all.
Color Spectrum
 Color Fundamentals

The colors that humans and some

animals perceive in an object are
determined by the nature of light
reflected from the object.
Color is a sensation produced by the
human eye and nervous system.
Color:
The use of color in all application in computer
graphics to enhance the image, clarifies the
information presented.
Color is used to differentiate elements in the diagram
so that the comparative information is read and
understood rapidly and accurately.
Color visualization techniques increase the amount of
information that can be integrated into the visual
message or picture and thus create layer of
information.
 Color Models
 The purpose of a color model (also called Color Space or Color
System) is to facilitate the specification of colors in some
standard way

 A color model is a specification of a coordinate system and a

subspace within that system where each color is represented by
a single point

 Color Models

RGB (Red, Green, Blue)

CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow-Black)
HSI (Hue, Saturation, Intensity)
YIQ (Luminance,In phase, Quadrature)
Two categories of Color Models
Additive Color:
Additive mixing is present in color television
In color tv two or more colors mixed together and
filter
Additive mixing three primary colors
RED,GREEN, BLUE
Subtractive Color:
The subtractive synthesis is based on the absorption or
subtraction of certain wavelength from white light
Subtractive colors are impute
CYAN, MAGENTA,YELLOW
Eg: CMYK color model
 RGB Model
 Each color is represented
in its primary color
components Red, Green
and Blue
 RGB Model
 In this model, the primary colors are red, green, and blue. It is an
additive model, in which colors are produced by adding
components, with white having all colors present and black being
the absence of any color.

 This is the model used for active displays such as television and
computer screens.

 The RGB model is usually represented by a unit cube with one

corner located at the origin of a three-dimensional color coordinate
system, the axes being labeled R, G, B, and having a range of
values [0, 1]. The origin (0, 0, 0) is considered black and the
diagonally opposite corner (1, 1, 1) is called white. The line joining
black to white represents a gray scale and has equal components
of R, G, B.
 RGB Color Cube

 The total number of colors in a 24 Bit image is

(28)3 =16,777,216 (> 16 million)
Generating RGB image
 CMY and CMYK Color Model
 Cyan, magenta, and yellow are the secondary colors with respect to the
primary colors of red, green, and blue. However, in this subtractive model,
they are the primary colors and red, green, and blue, are the secondaries.
In this model, colors are formed by subtraction, where adding different
pigments causes various colors not to be reflected and thus not to be seen.
Here, white is the absence of colors, and black is the sum of all of them.
This is generally the model used for printing.

 Most devices that deposit color pigments on paper (such as Color Printers
and Copiers) requires CMY data input or perform RGB to CMY conversion
internally

C 1.00 R

M = 1.00
- G

Y 1.00 B
 CMY and CMYK Color Model

 CMY is a Subtractive Color Model

 Equal amounts of Pigment primaries (Cyan, Magenta

and Yellow) should produce Black

 In practice combining these colors for printing produces

a “Muddy-Black” color

 So in order to produce “True-Black” a fourth color

“Black” is added giving rise to CMYK model
CMY Color Model
CMY Color Model
 HSI Color Model

 Hue (dominant colour seen)

 Wavelength of the pure colour observed in the signal.
 Distinguishes red, yellow, green, etc.
 More the 400 hues can be seen by the human eye.

 Saturation (degree of dilution)

 Inverse of the quantity of “white” present in the signal. A
pure colour has 100% saturation, the white and grey
have 0% saturation.
 Distinguishes red from pink, marine blue from royal blue,
etc.
 About 20 saturation levels are visible per hue.

 Intensity(value)
 Distinguishes the gray levels.
 HSI Color Model
 Separates out intensity I from the coding

 Two values (Hue & Saturation) encode chromaticity

 Intensity encode monochrome part.

 Hue and saturation of colors respond closely to the way

humans perceive color, and thus this model is suited for
interactive manipulation of color images .
 Properties of HSI (HSV)

 Hue H is defined by an angle

 Saturation S models the purity of the color

 I=(R+G+B)/3
 Conversion from RGB to HSI
 Given an image in RGB color format, the H component of each
RGB pixel is obtained using the equation:
Conversion from HSI to RGB
Conversion from HSI to RGB