In the additive model, if the resulting spectrum, e.g. This is essentially opposite to the subtractive color model, particularly the CMY color model, which applies to paints, inks, dyes and other substances whose color depends on reflecting certain components (frequencies) of the light under which we see them. The RGB color model is additive in the sense that if light beams of differing color (frequency) are superposed in space their light spectra adds up, wavelength for wavelength, to make up a resulting, total spectrum. Each of the three beams is called a component of that color, and each of them can have an arbitrary intensity, from fully off to fully on, in the mixture. To form a color with RGB, three light beams (one red, one green, and one blue) must be superimposed (for example by emission from a black screen or by reflection from a white screen). Color printers, on the other hand, are not RGB devices, but subtractive color devices typically using the CMYK color model.Īdditive colors Additive color mixing: projecting primary color lights on a white surface shows secondary colors where two overlap the combination of all three primaries in equal intensities makes white. Typical RGB output devices are TV sets of various technologies ( CRT, LCD, plasma, OLED, quantum dots, etc.), computer and mobile phone displays, video projectors, multicolor LED displays and large screens such as the Jumbotron. Typical RGB input devices are color TV and video cameras, image scanners, and digital cameras.

Thus an RGB value does not define the same color across devices without some kind of color management. RGB is a device-dependent color model: different devices detect or reproduce a given RGB value differently, since the color elements (such as phosphors or dyes) and their response to the individual red, green, and blue levels vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, or even in the same device over time. Before the electronic age, the RGB color model already had a solid theory behind it, based in human perception of colors. The main purpose of the RGB color model is for the sensing, representation, and display of images in electronic systems, such as televisions and computers, though it has also been used in conventional photography. The name of the model comes from the initials of the three additive primary colors, red, green, and blue. The RGB color model is an additive color model in which the red, green and blue primary colors of light are added together in various ways to reproduce a broad array of colors. Full color image along with its R, G, and B components Additive color mixing demonstrated with CD covers used as beam splitters A diagram demonstrating additive color with rgb

Primary color wheel images