Overview: Color standards

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

BT.601, BT.709, BT.2020 and BT.2100 belong to different video contexts, while P3 identifies related color-gamut conventions. Their names should not be reduced to interchangeable “color-space” labels. The pages here separate the properties each convention defines and the signaling used to carry that interpretation through playback.

• ITU-R BT.601
  ITU-R BT.601 defines digital component-video encoding for standard-definition television.

• ITU-R BT.709
  ITU-R BT.709 defines HDTV image and signal parameters, including the familiar SDR color primaries.

• ITU-R BT.2020
  ITU-R BT.2020 defines UHD television parameters and a wide set of color primaries.

• ITU-R BT.2100
  ITU-R BT.2100 specifies HDR television image parameters for PQ and HLG systems.

• P3 color gamuts
  P3 names a family of color spaces that share wide-gamut primaries but can differ in white point and transfer function.

References

• ITU-R BT.601-7: Digital television studio encoding
• ITU-R BT.709-6: HDTV parameters
• ITU-R BT.2020-2: UHD television parameters
• ITU-R BT.2100-3: HDR television parameters
• W3C CSS Color 4: Display P3