Constructing an ICC Display profile: How It Really Works

Details:

Year: 2012
Pages: 12

Summary:

Finding a standardized way to communicate between different digital devices in terms of colors was the main interest for many graphic communications industries. Color Management was the solution system and ICC � profile was the tool. By capturing the device's color behavior in a standardize format, color transformation could be accurately achieved among different media. However, this accuracy depends on many factors. For example finding an accurate mathematical model that accurately interprets a device color space (RGB or CMYK) into a standard device-independent space (or Profile connection space-PCS) so it can be understandable by another color device. Other factors might be related to the constructions of an ICC profile, which could influence the accuracy and performance of that important file.

Generally, monitors have an important role in the graphic communication cycle. Taking this fact, this research focused on revealing all the details behind constructing a plausible display profile by using different mathematical models (Matrix and Look-up table models) to build an ICC profile for two different LCD monitors that are connected to one computer. A customized C++ code was assembled based on an open source library "Little cms" written by Marti Maria. This code was used as our ICC profile editor that can read and write different components of ICC profiles. Other display profiles were constructed using I1profiler software for each monitor for comparison purposes. Different evaluation tests that involve different software from Adobe Photoshop, Digital Color Meter and X-Rite � MeasureTool, were employed to examine the accuracy of our constructed profiles and promising results were achieved.