Which color system is used to represent color on color monitors?

Which color system is used to represent color on color monitors?

• A. Subtractive color
• B. CMYK colors
• C. RGB colors
• D. Additive color

Answer: (D)

On color monitors, colors are created by light being emitted from the screen, not by reflected pigment. Colors come from adding light in different channels, specifically red, green, and blue. This is additive color: you brighten the image by increasing the light in those channels, and when all three are at full strength you get white. Because screens generate color by adding light, the additive color system is the correct concept here. The RGB color model is the common way we implement that on displays, but the core idea is additive color. Subtractive color, used in printing with pigments (like CMYK), relies on blocking or absorbing light rather than adding it, so it doesn’t describe how monitors produce color.

On color monitors, colors are created by light being emitted from the screen, not by reflected pigment. Colors come from adding light in different channels, specifically red, green, and blue. This is additive color: you brighten the image by increasing the light in those channels, and when all three are at full strength you get white. Because screens generate color by adding light, the additive color system is the correct concept here. The RGB color model is the common way we implement that on displays, but the core idea is additive color. Subtractive color, used in printing with pigments (like CMYK), relies on blocking or absorbing light rather than adding it, so it doesn’t describe how monitors produce color.