Industry Expert Blogs

The color space is a very powerful tool that comes in handy when capturing and transmitting color back to the human eye. All systems like cameras, GPUs, transmission cables (HDMI/DP), monitors, etc. use color space metrics to preserve and transform color.

An image is a collection of pixels in horizontal and vertical direction, where each pixel holds only one color. The pixel, ( a word invented from the terms “picture element”,) is the basic unit of programmable color on a computer display or in a computer image. Think of it as a logical – rather than a physical – unit. The physical size of a pixel depends on how you’ve set the resolution for the display screen.

Each pixel contains one to three components depending on color space and sub-sampling being used. For example, each RGB or YCbCr pixel has three components, whereas YCbCr 4:2:2 has two components. The specific color that a pixel describes is a blend of components of the color space. A color space is the method of mapping real colors to the color model’s discrete values.