Colour Science Explained
Written by Abin Alex and Anu Joseph.
Abstract
Colour science is the way a camera records, interprets and renders colour, from the sensor and its processing to the tone curve and the colour gamut. This guide sets out the parts of that chain: sensors and debayering, tone and log curves, and wide gamut. It compares how Hasselblad, ARRI, RED, Blackmagic and the stills camera makers present colour, and explains that a picture style is a setting chosen on top of the base colour science. It ends with a method for comparing and matching cameras using a chart and matched settings.
Keywords: colour science; debayering; log encoding; wide gamut; camera colour
What is colour science?
Short answer. Colour science is the chain that turns light from a scene into the colours in a finished picture. Each maker builds its own chain.
- The same scene looks different on different cameras. The sensor, the processing, the tone curve and the colour gamut all shape the result.
- Hasselblad calls its system the Hasselblad Natural Colour Solution (Hasselblad, n.d.). ARRI calls it REVEAL Color Science (ARRI, n.d.). RED uses IPP2 (RED Digital Cinema, n.d.). Blackmagic uses Generation 5 colour science (Blackmagic Design, n.d.).
- Stills makers show part of their colour science through picture styles: Canon Picture Style (Canon Inc., n.d.), Nikon Picture Control (Nikon Corporation, n.d.), Sony Creative Look and Picture Profile (Sony Corporation, n.d.-a) (Sony Corporation, n.d.-b), Fujifilm Film Simulation (Fujifilm Corporation, n.d.) and Panasonic Photo Style (Panasonic Corporation, n.d.).
- A picture style is a setting you choose. Colour science is the base underneath it. See the guide on picture styles and camera calibration.
- A colour space is the range of colours a file can hold. It is a different idea. See the guide on colour spaces.
Two photographers shoot the same wedding with different cameras. Skin and green foliage look different in each, even at the same settings. That difference is colour science.
On a film set the colourist matches cameras from different makers in the grade. Knowing each colour science helps with the match.
Cham tipColour science is not only a brand story. You can see it and test it yourself.
Cham taskShoot one scene with two different cameras in the same light. Write down three differences you see.
Check yourself: What is colour science?
The way a camera records, interprets and renders colour, from sensor to finished picture.
How does a sensor turn light into colour?
Short answer. A sensor measures brightness behind a pattern of colour filters. Software then rebuilds full colour for every pixel.
- Most sensors put a repeating pattern of colour filters, usually red, green and blue, over the pixels. The Bayer pattern is the best known (Bayer, 1976).
- Each pixel records only one colour. The camera or the software works out the other two from the neighbours. This step is called debayering or demosaicing.
- ARRI says debayering is the first step of REVEAL, using its ARRI Debayer Algorithm ADA-7 (ARRI, n.d.). Blackmagic RAW uses a new de-mosaic algorithm (Blackmagic Design, n.d.).
- The result is camera-native RGB. ARRI then converts it to ARRI Wide Gamut 4 with its colour engine ACE4 (ARRI, n.d.).
- Hasselblad calibrates each medium-format camera at pixel level for consistent light sensing (Hasselblad, n.d.).
When you open a RAW file, your editing software does the debayering and the first colour conversion. Different software can give slightly different colour.
Cinema RAW formats keep the sensor data so the colour conversion can be chosen later in post.
Cham tipRAW holds the sensor data. The colour conversion happens when you process it.
Cham taskOpen one RAW file in two programs. Compare skin tones and greens.
Check yourself: What does debayering do?
It rebuilds full colour for every pixel from the single-colour pixel data.
What are tone curves and log curves?
Short answer. A tone curve decides how brightness values are stored and shown. Log curves store more dynamic range and look flat until they are graded.
- Sony Picture Profile sets the gamma curve, colour and detail for movies (Sony Corporation, n.d.-b).
- Panasonic Cinelike D2 uses film-style gamma curves for wide dynamic range. Cinelike V2 gives a high-contrast cinematic look (Panasonic Corporation, n.d.).
- Hasselblad uses a Hasselblad Film Curve to control tone and contrast (Hasselblad, n.d.).
- ARRI LogC4 captures the extra dynamic range of the ALEXA 35 sensor (ARRI, n.d.). ARRI recommends LogC4 display LUTs for LogC4 images (ARRI, n.d.).
- RED Log3G10 puts 18% mid-grey at one third of the maximum code value and holds up to 10 stops above it (RED Digital Cinema, n.d.).
- A log picture looks grey and low in contrast on purpose. A LUT or a grade brings it back.
| Maker | Curve | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Sony | Picture Profile gamma curve | Set in the camera for movies |
| Panasonic | Cinelike D2 and V2 | Film-style gamma curves |
| Hasselblad | Hasselblad Film Curve | Controls tone and contrast |
| ARRI | LogC4 | Used with ARRI Wide Gamut 4 |
| RED | Log3G10 | Used with REDWideGamutRGB |
Table 1. Tone curves by maker (Sony Corporation, n.d.-b) (Panasonic Corporation, n.d.) (Hasselblad, n.d.) (ARRI, n.d.) (RED Digital Cinema, n.d.).
Photographers meet tone curves as Contrast and Highlight sliders in a picture style.
Shoot log to keep highlights and shadows. Use a monitor LUT on set so everyone sees a normal picture.
Cham tipA flat picture is not a mistake. It is a recording format.
Cham taskRecord a short clip in a flat or log profile. Grade it with a LUT.
Check yourself: Why does a log picture look flat?
It stores a wide range of brightness in a small space. A LUT or grade restores contrast.
What is wide gamut in cinema cameras?
Short answer. Cinema makers record in very wide gamuts so no colour from the sensor is lost. The colourist then converts to the screen.
- ARRI Wide Gamut 4 is larger than Rec. 2020, avoids unreal colours and sits inside ACES (ARRI, n.d.).
- REDWideGamutRGB is meant to cover every colour that current and past RED cameras can record (RED Digital Cinema, n.d.).
- Blackmagic Generation 5 records in a custom 12-bit non-linear space (Blackmagic Design, n.d.).
- Hasselblad Phocus edits in Hasselblad working spaces, including the L*RGB wide-gamut space (Hasselblad, n.d.).
- Wide gamut is for working. Convert to the screen space at the end. See the guide on colour spaces.
For photographers, ProPhoto RGB plays the same role. It is a wide working space you convert on export.
A colour-managed grade moves from the camera gamut to a working gamut and then to the delivery gamut.
Cham tipNever judge a wide-gamut file on a screen that cannot show it without a conversion.
Cham taskFind the camera gamut and the working gamut in your grading project settings.
Check yourself: Why record in a wide gamut?
So that no sensor colour is lost before the grade.
How do makers approach colour differently?
Short answer. Cinema and medium-format makers present one colour system. Stills makers give you picture styles on top of the base colour.
- Hasselblad aims for true-to-life colour by default and does not ask you to pick a profile for each subject (Hasselblad, n.d.).
- ARRI says REVEAL aims to bring the image closer to human visual perception and keeps the same colour tones in SDR and HDR (ARRI, n.d.).
- Fujifilm Film Simulation imitates the colour and tone of Fujifilm film stocks (Fujifilm Corporation, n.d.).
- Sony Creative Look has ten presets and a Custom Look (Sony Corporation, n.d.-a). Panasonic Photo Style has styles from Standard to Cinelike V2 (Panasonic Corporation, n.d.).
- Different aims give different looks. None is the single correct one. Choose by the job.
| Maker | System | Approach |
|---|---|---|
| Hasselblad | Natural Colour Solution | One system for all subjects |
| ARRI | REVEAL Color Science | ACE4 engine, AWG4 gamut, LogC4 curve |
| RED | IPP2 | REDWideGamutRGB with Log3G10 |
| Blackmagic Design | Generation 5 | Custom 12-bit non-linear space |
| Canon, Nikon, Sony, Fujifilm, Panasonic | Picture styles | Picture Style, Picture Control, Creative Look and Picture Profile, Film Simulation, Photo Style |
Table 2. Colour systems by maker (Hasselblad, n.d.) (ARRI, n.d.) (RED Digital Cinema, n.d.) (Blackmagic Design, n.d.) (Canon Inc., n.d.) (Nikon Corporation, n.d.) (Sony Corporation, n.d.-a) (Fujifilm Corporation, n.d.) (Panasonic Corporation, n.d.).
A portrait photographer may value a maker for its skin tones. A landscape photographer may value another for greens.
Feature productions often pick a camera partly for how it renders skin and highlights.
Cham tipAdd your own experience here. Your tests will be the best evidence.
Cham taskChoose two makers from the table and write what you notice in their sample pictures.
Check yourself: Does one maker have the correct colour?
No. Each aims for a different look. Choose by the job.
How can I compare and match cameras?
Short answer. Shoot the same chart and scene in the same light with matched settings, then compare skin, greens and blues.
- Set the same white balance, the same colour space and a neutral or flat picture style on every camera.
- Shoot a colour chart and a real scene with skin and foliage.
- Compare the results on a calibrated screen.
- In editing software you can build a camera profile from a chart. See X-Rite on creating DNG profiles (X-Rite, n.d.).
- In video, the colourist matches the cameras in the grade.
- Write down your results. They become your own record of how each camera renders colour.
A simple test: a grey card, a colour chart and a person in open shade, shot on each camera.
Camera tests before a shoot save hours in the grade.
Cham tipChange one thing at a time when you test.
Cham taskRun the chart test on two cameras. Keep the files for class.
Check yourself: What should match between cameras before a test?
White balance, colour space and picture style, plus the same light.
Questions beginners ask
What is colour science?
It is the way a camera records, interprets and renders colour, from the sensor and processing to the tone curve and gamut. Hasselblad, ARRI, RED and Blackmagic each publish their own system (Hasselblad, n.d.) (ARRI, n.d.) (RED Digital Cinema, n.d.) (Blackmagic Design, n.d.).
Is colour science the same as a picture style?
No. A picture style is a setting you choose. Colour science is the base system underneath it (Canon Inc., n.d.) (Sony Corporation, n.d.-a).
What is ARRI REVEAL Color Science?
It is ARRI’s image processing chain for the ALEXA 35, ALEXA 35 Xtreme and ALEXA 265. It uses the ACE4 colour engine, ARRI Wide Gamut 4 and the LogC4 curve (ARRI, n.d.).
What is the Hasselblad Natural Colour Solution?
It is Hasselblad’s own colour system. It aims for true-to-life colour by default without a profile for each subject (Hasselblad, n.d.).
How can I compare the colour of two cameras?
Shoot the same chart and scene in the same light with matched settings, then compare skin, greens and blues (X-Rite, n.d.).
References
- ARRI (n.d.) REVEAL Color Science. www.arri.com/reveal (Accessed 31 October 2026).
- Bayer, B.E. (1976) Color imaging array. US Patent 3,971,065. Washington, DC: United States Patent Office.
- Blackmagic Design (n.d.) Blackmagic RAW. www.blackmagicdesign.com/se/products/blackmagicpocketcinemacamera/blackmagicraw (Accessed 31 October 2026).
- Canon Inc. (n.d.) Picture Style. Canon Global. global.canon/en/imaging/picturestyle/style/standard.html (Accessed 31 October 2026).
- Fujifilm Corporation (n.d.) Film Simulation. FUJIFILM X Series. fujifilm-x.com/ro-ro/?p=10589 (Accessed 31 October 2026).
- Hasselblad (n.d.) Hasselblad Natural Colour Solution. www.hasselblad.com/learn/hasselblad-natural-colour-solution/ (Accessed 31 October 2026).
- Nikon Corporation (n.d.) Picture Controls. D850 Digitutor. imaging.nikon.com/support/digitutor/d850/functions/picturecontrol.html (Accessed 31 October 2026).
- Panasonic Corporation (n.d.) Photo Style: Color. LUMIX. panasonic.com/global/consumer/lumix/lumix-color/photo-style-color.html (Accessed 31 October 2026).
- RED Digital Cinema (n.d.) IPP2 Overview. RED Support. support.red.com/hc/en-us/articles/115004913827-IPP2-Overview (Accessed 31 October 2026).
- Sony Corporation (n.d.-a) Creative Look (still image/movie). Help Guide, Interchangeable Lens Digital Camera. helpguide.sony.net/ilc/2430/v1/en/contents/0411B_creative_look.html (Accessed 31 October 2026).
- Sony Corporation (n.d.-b) What is Picture Profile? Help Guide. helpguide.sony.net/di/pp/v1/en/contents/TP0000909106.html (Accessed 31 October 2026).
- X-Rite (n.d.) Creating DNG profiles for Adobe Camera Raw. www.xrite.com/service-support/creating_dng_profiles_for_adobe_camera_raw (Accessed 31 October 2026).
How to cite this guide. Alex, A., & Joseph, A. (2026). Colour science: A guide for photographers and cinematographers. Creative Hut Academy. https://creativehut.org/library/colour-science/
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