CIELABfargesystemet

CIELAB is a color space developed by the International Commission on Illumination (CIE) in 1976. It is designed to be perceptually uniform, meaning that a given numerical change corresponds to a similar perceived change in color. This makes it useful for applications requiring precise color matching, such as in graphic design, printing, and color management.

The CIELAB color space consists of three components: L*, a*, and b*. The L* component represents lightness, ranging from 0 (black) to 100 (white). The a* and b* components represent the green-red and blue-yellow color opposites, respectively. The a* axis runs from green (negative values) to red (positive values), while the b* axis runs from blue (negative values) to yellow (positive values).

One of the key advantages of CIELAB is its ability to represent a wide gamut of colors, making it suitable for applications that require accurate color reproduction across different devices and media. It is also used in color difference calculations, where the Euclidean distance between two colors in the CIELAB space can be used to quantify the perceived difference between them.

However, CIELAB has some limitations. It is not perfectly perceptually uniform, particularly in the blue region, and it does not account for the non-linear response of the human eye to light. Despite these limitations, CIELAB remains a widely used color space in various industries due to its simplicity and effectiveness in color matching and reproduction.