Forget RGB, Sharp is developing CYRGB displays

SharpSince time immemorial (or at least, since color televisions have been available), TVs have used 3 colors: red, green, and blue. Combinations of these three color building blocks produced the increasingly wide spectrum of colors you now see on the screen in front of you. Print, meanwhile, almost always uses 4 colors: cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. RGB is an additive color space, meaning the three colors combine to form white. CMYK is a subtractive color space, meaning the three main colors form black, or "K."

Sharp is working on incorporating cyan and yellow into the red-green-blue color set displays currently use. According to the company, this CYRGB color set can reproduce over 99% of visible surface colors (paints, pigments, and other colors that reflect, rather than emit, light).

Because of the radically different pixel structure and design (5 colors compared to 3 colors), this could be a huge leap in display technology. It could also be a technical flight of fancy, depending on how feasible it is in the retail market. We won't find out which it is for a while, though; while Sharp has developed the display, it isn't getting a commercial release for some time. It's strictly in its first-generation phase at this point.

Now how about a little love for magenta? It's probably feeling left out.

- Will Greenwald

[Source: Engadget HD]

X