Overview: Color standards and transfer functions

Color standards and transfer functions define how encoded values relate to color and light.

A numeric sample becomes a meaningful color only within a defined interpretation. Primaries and white point establish part of that interpretation; transfer functions establish relationships between signal values and light. Gamut and color-volume topics describe the resulting bounds, while the standards pages identify the conventions used to communicate them.

• Color gamut
  Color gamut describes the range of colors a system can represent or a display can reproduce.

• Color volume
  Color volume describes which colors can be reproduced across a range of light levels.

• Color standards
  Video color standards specify signal conventions that help devices interpret and exchange a picture consistently.

• Transfer functions
  Transfer functions describe relationships between encoded signal values and light at different stages of image creation and display.