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Color Gamut

The range of colors a device or color space can reproduce. Wider gamut = more saturated colors possible.

Definition

A color gamut is the subset of the visible color spectrum that a display, printer, or color space can reproduce. sRGB covers about 35% of visible colors; DCI-P3 covers ~45%; Rec.2020 covers ~75%. Colors outside a gamut are 'clipped' to the nearest reproducible color, which is why a vivid red on your phone may look duller in a printed brochure.

Formula

Visualized as a triangle on the CIE 1931 xy chromaticity chart — the three corners are the device's R, G, B primary points. Larger triangle = wider gamut.

Example

An iPhone displays in DCI-P3, your office monitor likely in sRGB, professional printers in CMYK gamut (smaller than sRGB in the saturated cyan/blue range).

Related tools

RGB → CMYK converter

Related terms

sRGB
The standard RGB color space for the web, monitors, and most
CMYK
A subtractive color model used in print: Cyan, Magenta, Yell
RGB
An additive color model defining colors as combinations of R