Wikipedia:How to read a color infobox

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Red
 
Spectral coordinates
Wavelength~630–740 nm
Frequency~480–405 THz
About these coordinates     Color coordinates
Hex triplet#FF0000
sRGBB (r, g, b)(255, 0, 0)
CMYKH (c, m, y, k)(0, 100, 100, 0)
HSV (h, s, v)(0°, 100%, 100%)
CIELChuv (L, C, h)(53, 179, 12°)
SourceGiven source(s)
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)
H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)
Some shades of Red
Darker red 
Reddish orange 
Purplish red 

The infobox with the name {{Infobox color}} is a table found on Wikipedia articles setting out information about a named color – an example can be found on the right.

The pieces of the infobox include:

  1. At the top of the infobox is the common name of the color.
  2. Below is an optional picture representing the color. For example, a collection of red objects.
  3. An optional range of frequencies and wavelengths representing a spectral color. These are only approximations as different sources will have different ranges, and people will perceive the boundaries to be at different points.
  4. Optionally set(s) of color coordinates, referring to a specific color.[note 1] Each color coordinate gives the specific color in one color space (e.g. RGB), and one standard (e.g. sRGB).[note 2] The following color spaces can be found in a color infobox:
    Hex triplet: RGB values as a 24-bit hexadecimal value.
    RGB: The coordinates in one of the RGB color spaces as commonly used by computers and video displays. Normally sRGB is used.
    CMYK color model: The coordinates in CMYK space as commonly used during color printing. Colors represented by CMYK coordinates vary greatly between printers depending on the inks used.
    HSV color space: The HSV space is a transformation from RGB space. As a transformation of RGB values, HSV values share the same limitation.
    Source: The source of the standard defining the color coordinates.
  5. Examples of other variations ("shades") of that color.

It must be noted that a range of color-variations is commonly associated with every color-name – however, only one specific variation is shown in detail: E.g. in the example only one tone of red (#FF0000) is shown in detail, while several variations of red can be found at the end of the infobox.

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Extensive information on color coordinates can be found here.
  2. ^ However some specific colors fall outside of some color spaces and standards, and can therefore not be represented in that color space – e.g. many bright/luminous colors can not be represented in CMYK for printing.