highercolor

highercolor refers to a concept in digital imaging and computer graphics that pertains to the representation of color information beyond standard 8-bit per channel color. Traditionally, displays and image formats utilize 8 bits for each of the red, green, and blue color channels, resulting in approximately 16.7 million possible colors. This is often referred to as "true color" or 24-bit color.

Highercolor, in contrast, implies a greater bit depth per channel, such as 10-bit, 12-bit, or even 16-bit color. This increased bit depth allows for a significantly wider range of color values to be represented for each channel. For example, 10-bit color offers 1024 possible values per channel, leading to over one billion colors. This expanded range provides smoother color gradients, reduces the likelihood of color banding artifacts, and offers more precise color control in post-production workflows.

The adoption of highercolor technologies is driven by the demands of professional photography, videography, and graphic design, where subtle color variations and accurate reproduction are critical. Many modern cameras, monitors, and image editing software support highercolor formats to capture and display this expanded color information. Achieving the full benefit of highercolor requires a complete pipeline, from the capture device to the display, to support the greater bit depth.