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Red in Color Theory and On A Computer Screen

On the color wheel long used by painters, and in traditional color theory, red is one of the three primary colors, along with blue and yellow. Painters could mix red and yellow to get orange, and red and blue to get violet.

In modern color theory, also known as the RGB color model, red, green and blue are additive primary colors. Red, green and blue light combined together makes white light, and these three colors, combined in different mixtures, can produce nearly any other color. This is the principle that is used to make all of the colors on your computer screen and your television.

So that the maximum number of colors can be accurately reproduced on your computer screen, each color has been given a code number, or sRGB, which tells your computer the intensity of the red, green and blue components of that color. The intensity of each component is measured on a scale of zero to 255, which means the complete list includes 16,777,216 distinct colors and shades. The sRGB number of pure red, for example, is 255, 00, 00, which means the red component is at its maximum intensity, and there is no green or blue. The sRGB number for crimson is 220, 20, 60, which means that the red is slightly less intense and therefore darker, there is some green, which leans it toward orange; and there is a larger amount of blue, which makes it slightly blue-violet. (See Web colors and RGB color model)

• In a traditional color wheel from 1708, red, yellow and blue are primary colors. Red and yellow made orange, red and blue made violet.

• In modern color theory, red, green and blue are the additive primary colors, and together they make white. A combination of red, green and blue light in varying proportions makes all the colors on your computer screen and television screen.

• Tiny Red, green and blue sub-pixels (enlarged on left side of image) create the colors you see on your computer screen and TV.