Windows Color System: Difference between revisions

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<!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:Windows Vista Color Management.png|thumb|Screenshot of the Color Management [[Control Panel (Windows)|control panel]] which is used to configure Windows Color System settings.|{{deletable image-caption|1=Monday, 21 September 2009}}]] -->

'''Windows Color System''' ('''WCS''') is a platform for [[color management]], first included with [[Windows Vista]], that aims to achieve color consistency across various software and hardware, including cameras, monitors, printers and scanners.<ref name="WCS">{{cite web |title=Windows Color System |url=https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions//dd372446(v=vs.85) |publisher=[[Microsoft]] |date=June 6, 2017 |access-date=January 18, 2019 |archive-date=January 19, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190119121415/https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions//dd372446(v=vs.85) |url-status=live }}</ref> Different devices interpret the same colors differently, according to their software and hardware configurations. As a result, they must be properly calibrated to reproduce colors consistently across different devices. WCS aims to make this process of [[color calibration]] automatic and transparent, as an evolution of [[ICC profile]]s.

==System==

Windows Color System features a ''Color Infrastructure and Translation Engine'' (CITE) at its core. It is backed up by a color processing pipeline that supports bit-depths more than 32 bits per pixel, multiple color channels (more than three), alternative [[color space]]s and [[high dynamic range imaging|high dynamic range]] coloring, using a technology named ''Kyuanos''<ref>{{cite web|last1=Reuveni|first1=Noam|title=Windows Vista to use Canon Color Management|url=http://cameras.reviewed.com/content/Windows-Vista-to-use-Canon-Color-Management|website=Reviewed.com Cameras|date=13 September 2005|access-date=26 November 2014|archive-date=26 November 2014|archive-url=https://archive.is/20141126111947/http://cameras.reviewed.com/content/Windows-Vista-to-use-Canon-Color-Management|url-status=live}}</ref> developed by [[Canon Inc.|Canon]]. The color processing pipeline allows device developers to add their own [[Color management#Gamut mapping|gamut mapping]] algorithm into the pipeline to customize the color response of the device. The new pipeline also supports floating point calculations to minimize [[round-off error]]s, which are inherent in integer processing. Once the color pipeline finishes processing the colors, the CITE engine applies a [[color translation]] according to a color profile, specific to a device to ensure the output color matches to what is expected.

Different devices interpret the same colors differently, according to their software and hardware configurations. As a result, they must be properly calibrated to reproduce colors consistently across different devices. WCS aims to make this process of [[color calibration]] automatic and transparent, as an evolution of [[ICC profile]]s.

Windows Color System features a ''Color Infrastructure and Translation Engine'' (CITE) at its core. It is backed up by a color processing pipeline that supports bit-depths more than 32 bits per pixel, multiple color channels (more than three), alternative [[color space]]s and [[high dynamic range imaging|high dynamic range]] coloring, using a technology named ''Kyuanos''<ref>{{cite web|last1=Reuveni|first1=Noam|title=Windows Vista to use Canon Color Management|url=http://cameras.reviewed.com/content/Windows-Vista-to-use-Canon-Color-Management|website=Reviewed.com Cameras|date=13 September 2005|access-date=26 November 2014|archive-date=26 November 2014|archive-url=https://archive.istoday/20141126111947/http://cameras.reviewed.com/content/Windows-Vista-to-use-Canon-Color-Management|url-status=live}}</ref> developed by [[Canon Inc.|Canon]]. The color processing pipeline allows device developers to add their own [[Color management#Gamut mapping|gamut mapping]] algorithm into the pipeline to customize the color response of the device. The new pipeline also supports floating point calculations to minimize [[round-off error]]s, which are inherent in integer processing. Once the color pipeline finishes processing the colors, the CITE engine applies a [[color translation]] according to a color profile, specific to a device to ensure the output color matches to what is expected.

WCS features explicit support for LCD as well as CRT monitors, projectors, printers, and other imaging devices and provides customized support for each. WCS uses color profiles according to [[CIECAM02]], defined using [[XML]], to define how the color representation actually translates to a visible color. [[International Color Consortium|ICC]] V4 color profiles are also supported. [[Windows Photo Gallery]] and Photo Viewer only support the deprecated V2 standard and show dark images when used with V4 profiles; [[Windows Imaging Component]], the [[HD Photo]] format, [[XML Paper Specification|XPS]] print path and XPS documents all support color management.

WCS is a superset of Image Color Management (ICM), which was first included with [[Windows 95]], [[Windows 98]], [[Windows 2000]], [[Windows Me]], [[Windows XP]], and [[Windows Server 2003]].<ref name="WCS"/><ref>{{cite web |title=ICM-Enabled Device Context Functions |url=https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/desktop/gdi/icm-enabled-device-context-functions |publisher=[[Microsoft]] |date=May 30, 2018 |access-date=January 18, 2019 |archive-date=January 19, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190119121129/https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/desktop/gdi/icm-enabled-device-context-functions |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=GrantMeStrength |date=2021-12-30 |title=About Windows Color System Version 1.0 - Win32 apps |url=https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/wcs/about-windows-color-system-version-1-0 |access-date=2024-07-27 |website=learn.microsoft.com |language=en-us}}</ref>

==See also==