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Definition: RGB
(1) (Red Green Blue) A prefix tacked on to computer motherboards and peripherals that display colors just for enjoyment. See RGB lighting.
(2) (Red Green Blue) The computer's native color space and system for capturing and displaying color images. All TV, computer and electronic display screens create color by generating and combining red, green and blue (RGB) lights. Our eyes are sensitive to red, green and blue, and our brain mixes the colors together (see trichromaticity). See RGBW and RGBY.
Capturing
Cameras and scanners capture color with sensors that record the varying intensities of red, green and blue at each pixel location in the frame. See 24-bit color, CCD sensor, CMOS sensor, scanner and digital camera.
Red, Green and Blue Make White
For screen display, red, green and blue subpixels (dots) are energized to the appropriate intensity. When all three subpixels are turned on high, white light is produced. The different intensities of red, green and blue subpixels create all shades of colors, but if the intensities are lowered equally, shades of gray are derived. The base color of the screen appears when all subpixels are turned off.
Printing Is CMYK
For printing on paper, the CMYK color space is used, not RGB. Combinations of cyan, magenta, yellow and black ink make up the colors. White is typically the white paper and no ink; however, if white is of critical importance, a white spot color can be added to the CMYK process. See CMYK and spot color.
Display vs. Printing
Video Processing (RGB or YUV)
TV/video signals are generally in the YUV color space. They are converted to RGB in the computer for editing when RGB is the desired output. If YUV is the output and the video editing program supports YUV, there is no need to convert to RGB for internal processing. However, no matter which color space is used for editing, all data must be converted to RGB for the screen. See YUV, Adobe RGB, sRGB, color space and anaglyph 3D.
RGB Color Conversions
RGB/CMYK Comparison
(2) (Red Green Blue) The computer's native color space and system for capturing and displaying color images. All TV, computer and electronic display screens create color by generating and combining red, green and blue (RGB) lights. Our eyes are sensitive to red, green and blue, and our brain mixes the colors together (see trichromaticity). See RGBW and RGBY.
Capturing
Cameras and scanners capture color with sensors that record the varying intensities of red, green and blue at each pixel location in the frame. See 24-bit color, CCD sensor, CMOS sensor, scanner and digital camera.
Red, Green and Blue Make White
For screen display, red, green and blue subpixels (dots) are energized to the appropriate intensity. When all three subpixels are turned on high, white light is produced. The different intensities of red, green and blue subpixels create all shades of colors, but if the intensities are lowered equally, shades of gray are derived. The base color of the screen appears when all subpixels are turned off.
Printing Is CMYK
For printing on paper, the CMYK color space is used, not RGB. Combinations of cyan, magenta, yellow and black ink make up the colors. White is typically the white paper and no ink; however, if white is of critical importance, a white spot color can be added to the CMYK process. See CMYK and spot color.
Display screens have red, green and blue pixels (RGB). Printers use cyan, magenta, yellow and black inks (CMYK). In theory, equal parts of cyan, magenta and yellow ink make black, but the black tends to be muddy on paper. Thus, black ink is commonly used (K in CMYK), making it a four color process. See CMYK.
Video Processing (RGB or YUV)
TV/video signals are generally in the YUV color space. They are converted to RGB in the computer for editing when RGB is the desired output. If YUV is the output and the video editing program supports YUV, there is no need to convert to RGB for internal processing. However, no matter which color space is used for editing, all data must be converted to RGB for the screen. See YUV, Adobe RGB, sRGB, color space and anaglyph 3D.
Printing requires conversion from RGB to CMYK, and video editing requires conversion to and from RGB and YUV.
This color picker in Photoshop shows the calibrations of purple in RGB levels from 0 to 255 and percentages of CMYK colors. Also shown are the HSB and CIE Lab color spaces (see HSB and CIE Lab).