
By John Vilade, CEO of 6P Color Inc. and Partner of WAVE Ventures
During the holidays, I witnessed one of the most breathtaking sunrises I have ever seen. The sky erupted in a symphony of purples, blues, fire oranges and vibrant yellows, each hue painting the horizon with an almost surreal intensity. As I stood there, captivated by nature’s canvas, I rushed to grab my phone to capture the moment—photos, videos, anything to preserve it.
Later, as I reviewed the images and footage on my screen, I felt a deep sense of disappointment. The power of what I had seen was lost in translation, the richness flattened, the vibrancy muted. The stunning interplay of colors that had stirred something primal in me was reduced to a dull approximation. It was one of those “you had to be there” moments, and it hit me: our current display technology simply cannot do justice to the full spectrum of color the human eye perceives.
This realization underscores the need for a profound shift in how we think about color in digital media—a shift that is long overdue.
Breaking free from RGB: Broadening the spectrum
For decades, displays and interactive game consoles have relied on the RGB 3-primary-color model—a standard that limits color reproduction to a more suppressed range of about 45% of what the human eye can perceive. This constraint has become a significant barrier, preventing digital content from achieving the depth and vibrancy needed for fully immersive experiences.
Yet, the demand for more lifelike visuals has never been greater. A clear sign of this growing appetite is the 29% year-over-year increase in market share for TVs over 80 inches, as reported in a Q2 2024 study by Counterpoint Research. Consumers are seeking larger screens and richer displays.
To add, even advancements like the impressive eInk Kaleido3 have brought incremental improvements in color saturation for eReaders—alas, only skimming the surface of what is possible. They remain stuck in the “iron triangle” of the same old RGB approach. The current solution is to encode an RGB gamut into the content, which inherently limits and restricts the ability to reproduce color using multi-primary approaches. A colorimetric approach flips that on its head and unlocks the potential.
To truly revolutionize displays, we need a shift as fundamental as expanding the color spectrum itself.
Research from Baylor University and its Research and Innovation Collaborative, for example, provides a promising glimpse into this potential. By adding three additional primary colors—cyan, yellow and emerald—to the traditional RGB model, visible color reproduction can double, covering nearly 90% of the human visible spectrum in its initial implementation. This unleashes a path forward where displays could one day capture nearly the full range of colors perceptible by the human eye, delivering visuals with unmatched fidelity.

Achieving such a disruption requires more than incremental updates—it calls for a complete digitally-based reimagining of how colors are encoded and delivered via colorimetric encoding, which transcends the limitations of the traditional RGB “triangle” gamut, thus unlocking the native gamut of modern displays.
This approach creates an accurate color map that is based on the human experience, ensuring precise color reproduction and rendering intent through colorimetric encoding. As a result, every color is represented as a precise data point across all digital display technologies, from TVs and laptops to smartphones and AR/VR products.
By adopting data-driven, colorimetric solutions that seamlessly integrate with software and hardware workflows, developers can access advanced tools to push the boundaries of visual innovation. This colorimetric transformation, making color a data point for more precise color, is poised to meet the demands of today’s increasingly vibrant and visually driven world, unlocking the next era of display technology.
Transforming streaming: A revolution in realism
Streaming has become the centerpiece of entertainment, and audiences now expect visuals that match the sophistication of today’s stories. A new color model that encompasses all potential primary colors can deliver a viewing experience that today’s streaming consumers demand, enabling subtle nuances in lighting, shading and color grading that were previously unattainable.
For viewers, this means experiencing movies, series and documentaries in their full emotional and visual depth. For creators, it opens up new artistic possibilities, enabling directors, animators and cinematographers to work with a richer, more accurate palette.
The ability to break out of the old RGB paradigm and double the available color spectrum will enable every frame to resonate with realism and vibrancy, closing the gap between what creators envision and what audiences see. This is not only a technical advancement, but a revolution in how we tell and experience stories.
Gaming and interactive media: A new benchmark for immersion
In gaming, immersion is everything. Expanding the visible color range to nearly 90% of the human eye’s perceptual capability will empower creators to bring unparalleled realism to game worlds. Characters, environments and effects will be rendered with stunning depth and vibrancy, allowing players to feel truly part of the action.
Disrupting the old RGB color model using a colorimetric approach will also allow us to redefine interactive media like VR and AR, where authenticity is critical. Virtual experiences will be remarkably enhanced, blurring the line between digital and real, delivering visuals that feel tangible and deeply engaging.
RGB colors at their full and rightful range
Advancements in colorimetric mapping, which precisely translates the full spectrum of visible color into a format that can be accurately and consistently reproduced by displays, have made the traditional RGB triangle obsolete. By adding other primary colors, we are taking the first step, moving toward broader color capabilities and pushing the boundaries of what is possible in color display technology.
With such advancements, consumer electronics designers could integrate more vivid color rendering into their products, offering consumers a higher-quality experience. Product developers and system designers could drive these enhancements with new color capabilities that are backward and forward compatible, reducing cycle times by avoiding rework.
For display technology designers, such advancements would also offer a new level of flexibility, as they could sit in the software and hardware layers of any display product. The implications are far-reaching, beyond just entertainment. Industries like healthcare, where color accuracy in digital imaging is vital, stand to benefit, as well.
A new sunrise for color
That unforgettable sunrise—the purples, the blues, the fire oranges and yellows—left an indelible mark on me. But the gap between what I saw and what my camera captured drove home the urgent need for innovation. We need to close that gap, making it possible to recreate such moments with their full emotive and visual impact.
Imagine a future where every sunrise, every fleeting moment of nature’s brilliance, can be captured and displayed with all its awe and accuracy. This is the promise of a new colorimetric model that goes beyond RGB to enable an expanded spectrum of colors and a new dawn in color fidelity that transforms not just what we see, but how we connect to the world around us.
It is time to leave behind the muted, constrained visuals of the past and finally enable people to experience the world as it was meant to be seen—in full, breathtaking color.