What is sRGB Colour Space? What's Its Importance for Displays

In the world of photography, colour accuracy on a monitor is crucial for replicating the real-life colours captured in images while viewing or editing them. In order to achieve this accurate replication, professional monitors have various colour gamut’s, or colour spaces, that they can produce or record. A well-known colour space is sRGB, developed by HP and Microsoft together in 1996. But what is the sRGB Colour Space and why is it important for photographers to have a sRGB monitor? In this article we’ll answer these questions and provide some guidance for finding the right photography monitor for you.

Professional photography monitors will often list the percentage of each colour space they can produce to appeal to creatives. The higher a percentage of colour space a monitor can represent, the more accurate the images will be in the editing process. Most professional photography monitors can cover up to 100% of the sRGB colour space as it is the standard colour space for the web. sRGB was created to be used on monitors, printers, and the web and is usually the assumed colour space for images that do not have a specified colour space or embedded colour profile. It was standardised by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), is the standard for HDTV (high-definition television), and is compatible with CRT displays (cathode-ray tube). 

sRGB covers the RGB (red, green, blue) primaries that came from HDTV. That means the colours it represents match typical viewing conditions and every colour within the sRGB range is visible to the average human eye. It is also assumed to be the default working colour space of many digital cameras, scanners, and printers, but if they’re not calibrated it cannot be confirmed that the colours they represent are within the sRGB parameters. Checking for sRGB mode or settings on devices and calibrating them to this colour space will provide the best results when working with image editing and production. 

When selecting colour spaces, such as sRGB vs Adobe RGB, consider what colours your images need to reproduce and if you’ll be printing any images. Depending on the content you’re working on, having the ability to utilise both may be beneficial.

The image to the left is the sRGB Colour Space Graph. The Image to the right is a side-by-side example of sRGB vs Adobe RGB.

Replicating and producing the real-life colours captured in photos on a monitor is key to creating masterful images. Maintaining colour accuracy is a necessity and using the same colour space throughout the process will help maintain those colours. sRGB is important because this colour space is available on the majority of photography tools, such as cameras and monitors, and covers all the colours you see in real life. When posting photos online, the default for most people with be sRGB, so utilising that colour space for your edits means everyone will see the image exactly as it was intended to be seen. For precision editing and accurate colours, getting a photography monitor with a high percentage of sRGB will guarantee the colours you need.

At BenQ, we strive to reproduce accurate colours in every one of our professional photography monitors. AQCOLOR, a proprietary technology developed by BenQ, is built on meeting industrial standards, emphasising display details, and providing an out-of-the-box guarantee. Monitor capabilities are backed by third-party qualifications such as a Pantone Validated Certificate and Calman certification. The goal is to create products that will deliver on the promise “Colours You Can Trust” and empower creative professionals in every aspect of their work. 

Get the colour accuracy you need with BenQ PhotoVue Monitors, backed by AQCOLOR technology and Paper Color Sync, guaranteeing colour accuracy from screen to print. Additionally, SW and PD series purchasers and existing owners can get one FREE year of the new Pantone Connect Premium to bring the benefits of your smart device to your computer.