The color displayed on a VDU is an important aspect of the reproduction of colored images. The VDU is often used as the design, edit, and approval medium. Images are placed into the computer by some sort of capture device, such as a camera or scanner, modified by the computer operator, and sent on to a printer or color separation generator, or even to a paint dispenser or textile dyer. The color of the final product is to have some well-defined relationship to the original. The most common medium for establishing the relationship between input, edit, and output color (device-independent color space) is the CIE tristimulus space. This guide identifies the procedures for deriving a model that relates the digital computer settings of a VDU to the CIE tristimulus values of the colored light emitted by the primaries.

1.1 This guide is intended for use in establishing the operating characteristics of a visual display unit (VDU), such as a cathode ray tube (CRT). Those characteristics define the relationship between the digital information supplied by a computer, which defines an image, and the resulting spectral radiant exitance and CIE tristimulus values. The mathematical description of this relationship can be used to provide a nearby device-independent model for the accurate display of color and colored images on the VDU. The CIE tristimulus values referred to here are those calculated from the CIE 1931 2° standard colorimetric (photopic) observer.

1.2 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.