Chromaogram

Chromaogram is a term used in color science and data visualization to denote a graphical representation of chroma, the color content of an image or sequence. The definition and form of a chromaogram vary by discipline, but it generally presents color information as a one- or two-dimensional plot that can be interpreted over time or space.

Construction usually starts with a color model that separates chroma from luminance, such as YCbCr or HSV. For each sample—such as a frame in a video or a tile in a mosaic—the chroma magnitude or chromaticity value is computed. These values are then plotted along an axis that represents time or position, while the vertical axis encodes chroma magnitude; some implementations color-code the plot by hue to reflect dominant colors.

Applications include video quality analysis, color balancing, and digital art. A chromaogram can reveal saturation drift, color cast changes, or scene transitions that may be less apparent in standard luminance-based representations. In artistic settings, chromaograms may accompany audio tracks or visual narratives to illustrate color dynamics.

Variations exist depending on the chosen color space and metric of chroma. Some tools aggregate chroma by region to produce a spatial chromaogram, others generate a temporal chromaogram that tracks changes over time. The lack of a single standard definition means implementations differ in scale, units, and visualization style.

Chromaogram is not a universally standardized term and may be used informally in various contexts.

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