Lab color space

A Lab color space is a color-opponent space with dimensions L for lightness and a and b for the color-opponent dimensions, based on nonlinearly compressed (e.g. CIE XYZ) coordinates. The terminology originates from the three dimensions of the Hunter 1948 color space, which are L, a, and b. However, nowadays Lab is usually an informal abbreviation for the L*a*b* representation of the CIE 1976 color space (or CIELAB, described below), where the asterisks/stars are used to distinguish the CIE version from Hunter's original version. The difference between the original Hunter and CIE color coordinates is that the CIE coordinates are based on a cube root transformation of the color data, while the Hunter coordinates are based on a square root transformation. Other examples of color spaces with Lab representations include the CIE 1994 color difference and the CIE 2000 color difference.

The L*a*b* color space includes all perceivable colors, which means that its gamut exceeds those of the RGB and CMYK color models (for example, ProPhoto RGB includes about 90% all perceivable colors). One of the most important attributes of the L*a*b*-model is device independence. This means that the colors are defined independent of their nature of creation or the device they are displayed on. The L*a*b* color space is used when graphics for print have to be converted from RGB to CMYK, as the L*a*b* gamut includes both the RGB and CMYK gamut. Also it is used as an interchange format between different devices as for its device independency. The space itself is a three-dimensional real number space, that contains an infinite number of possible representations of colors. However, in practice, the space is usually mapped onto a three-dimensional integer space for device-independent digital representation, and for these reasons, the L*, a*, and b* values are usually absolute, with a pre-defined range. The lightness, L*, represents the darkest black at L* = 0, and the brightest white at L* = 100. The color channels, a* and b*, will represent true neutral gray values at a* = 0 and b* = 0. The red/green opponent colors are represented along the a* axis, with green at negative a* values and red at positive a* values. The yellow/blue opponent colors are represented along the b* axis, with blue at negative b* values and yellow at positive b* values. The scaling and limits of the a* and b* axes will depend on the specific implementation of Lab color, as described below, but they often run in the range of ±100 or −128 to +127 (signed 8-bit integer).

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