An Objective Analysis of ICC Device Profiles and their Performance in a Production Environment

The ability to assess the accuracy of a colour management system is dependent on the test methodology in use. This report aims to develop a method by which ICC device profile generators can be objectively assessed and to show how the colour management transformations perform in a production environment. The performance of device profiles can be attributed to their ability to convert from a device-dependent space (RGB or CMYK) to CIELAB. This paper suggests a method of comparing two profile generators to determine the accuracy of each. The ability of a device profile to convert from CIELAB to a device-dependent gamut is tested in a production environment, with consideration given to the factors involved in gamut compression techniques.