Adobe RGB color space

The Adobe RGB (1998) color space is an RGB color space developed by Adobe Systems, Inc. in 1998. It was designed to encompass most of the colors achievable on CMYK color printers, but by using RGB primary colors on a device such as a computer display. The Adobe RGB (1998) color space encompasses roughly 50% of the visible colors specified by the CIELAB color space – improving upon the gamut of the sRGB color space, primarily in cyan-green hues.

Beginning in 1997, Adobe Systems was looking into creating ICC profiles that its consumers could use in conjunction with Photoshop's new color management features. Since not many applications at the time had any ICC color management, most operating systems did not ship with useful profiles.

Lead developer of Photoshop, Thomas Knoll decided to build an ICC profile around specifications he found in the documentation for the SMPTE 240M standard, the precursor to Rec. 709. SMPTE 240M's gamut was wider than that of the sRGB color space, but not by much. However, with the release of Photoshop 5.0 nearing, Adobe made the decision to include the profile within the software.

Although users loved the wider range of reproducible colors, those familiar with the SMPTE 240M specifications contacted Adobe, informing the company that it had copied the values that described idealized primaries, not actual standard ones. The real values were much closer to sRGB's, which avid Photoshop consumers did not enjoy as a working environment. To make matters worse, an engineer had made an error when copying the red primary chromaticity coordinates, resulting in an even more inaccurate representation of the SMPTE standard.

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