Cyan

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Cyan
Pallete of color icon cyan.png
Spectral coordinates
Wavelength 490–520 nm
Frequency 610–575 THz
Common connotations
water[1][2][3]
About these coordinates     Color coordinates
Hex triplet #00FFFF
sRGBB    (r, g, b) (0, 255, 255)
Source CSS Color Module Level 3
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)
In this 1889 dictionary, cyan-blue is defined as the blue-green color corresponding to wavelengths from 487 to 505 nm, which give the same hue what is today called cyan.

Cyan (pron.: /ˈs.ən/[4] or /ˈs.æn/;[5] from Greek: κύανoς, transliterated: kýanos, meaning "dark blue substance")[6] may be used as the name of any color in the range between blue and green. Historically, it was not distinguished as a separate part of the visible spectrum or the color wheel – colors which are now recognized as cyan were traditionally included in "blue", partly "green", or were considered mixed (intermediate) colors without a specific color term. In additive color system, cyan is used to refer to the color obtained by mixing equal amounts of green and blue light. It also can be made by the removal of red from white light, which makes it the complement of red: cyan pigments absorb red light. It is apparent in both RGB and CMYK color models.

This color is also called aqua or blue-green, and was formerly known as "cyan blue".[7]

The first recorded use of cyan blue (as noted above, "cyan blue" was the name used for the color "cyan" in the 19th century) as a color name in English was in 1879.[8]

Some tones of color close to cyan in the cyan color range are teal, turquoise, electric blue and aquamarine.

Contents

Electric cyan vs. process cyan [edit]

Electric cyan (web color aqua) [edit]

Cyan (additive secondary)
About these coordinates     Color coordinates
Hex triplet #00FFFF
sRGBB    (r, g, b) (0, 255, 255)
CMYKH   (c, m, y, k) (100, 0, 0, 0)
HSV       (h, s, v) (180°, 100%, 100%)
Source X11
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)
H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

The vivid cyan that is seen on an electronic display device (shown at right) is also referred to as electric cyan to distinguish it from the less vivid turquoise blue-like process cyan used in CMYK color printing (shown below). (Note: while the color is defined by definite RGB values, the display of the color will vary depending on the absolute color space used and the nature of the physical display device, e.g. computer monitor, and if this page is printed it is likely that the color shown will be far from representative.)

The web color aqua is an alias for electric cyan, that is, it is exactly the same color shown here as electric cyan.

To reproduce electric cyan in inks, it is necessary to add some white ink to the printer's cyan below, so when it is reproduced in printing, it is not a primary subtractive color. It is called aqua (a name in use since 1598) because it is a color commonly associated with water, such as the appearance of the water at a tropical beach.[9]

Process cyan (pigment cyan) (printer's cyan) [edit]

Cyan (subtractive primary)
About these coordinates     Color coordinates
Hex triplet #00B7EB
sRGBB    (r, g, b) (0, 183, 235)
CMYKH   (c, m, y, k) (100, 22, 0, 8)
HSV       (h, s, v) (193°, 100%, 92[10]%)
Source CMYK[11]
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)
H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

Cyan is also one of the common inks used in four-color printing, along with magenta, yellow, and black; this set of colors is referred to as CMYK as in spectrum(s).

While both the additive secondary and the subtractive primary are called cyan, they can be substantially different from one another. Cyan printing ink can be more saturated or less saturated than the RGB secondary cyan, depending on what RGB color space and ink are considered.

Process cyan is not an RGB color, and there is no fixed conversion from CMYK primaries to RGB. Different formulations are used for printer's ink, so there can be variations in the printed color that is pure cyan ink. A typical formulation of process cyan is shown in the color box at right.

In nature [edit]

Molecules [edit]

  • Pure water is nearly colorless. However, it does absorb slightly more red light than blue, giving large volumes of water a bluish tint; increased scattering of blue light due to fine particles in the water shifts the blue color toward green, for a typically cyan net color.[12]
  • Cyanide derives its name from Prussian blue, a blue pigment containing the cyanide ion.

Bacteria [edit]

In human culture [edit]

Architecture [edit]

  • Cyan colored tiles are often used to pave swimming pools to make the water within them seem more intensely colored, and therefore more inviting.

Astronomy [edit]

Computers [edit]

Energy [edit]

Film [edit]

  • Cinecolor, a bi-pack color process, the photographer would load a standard camera with two films, one orthochromatic, dyed red, and a panchromatic strip behind it. Color light would expose the cyan record on the ortho stock, which also acted as a filter, exposing only red light to the panchromatic film stock.

Medicine [edit]

  • Cyanosis is an abnormal blueness of the skin, usually a sign of poor oxygen intake. i.e. the patient is "cyanotic".
  • Cyan is associated with the throat chakra in vedic medicine.

Music [edit]

Photography [edit]

Television [edit]

  • There is KyoryuCyan of the Japanese television show Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger.
  • From Kamen Rider Decade, Kamen Rider DiEnd's colour is cyan.
  • In the Dragon Ball franchise all super saiyan's have cyan eye colours.

Video games [edit]

See also [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ "Results for "cyan"". Dictionary.com. Lexico Publishing Corp. 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-22. 
  2. ^ Oxford English Dictionary
  3. ^ Khalifa, Rashad (trans). "Sura 76, The Human (Al-Insaan)". Quran The Final Testament. Retrieved 2007-11-30. 
  4. ^ "cyan". Oxford English Dictionary (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press. September 2005. 
  5. ^ Cyan definition on dictionary.com
  6. ^ κύανος, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
  7. ^ J. Arthur H. Hatt (1908). The Colorist: Designed to Correct the Commonly Held Theory that Red, Yellow, and Blue are the Primary Colors and to Supply the Much Needed Easy Method of Determining Color Harmony. D. Van Nostrand Company. 
  8. ^ Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill page 194
  9. ^ Maerz and Paul The Dictionary of Color 1930 (see under Aqua in Index, page 189)
  10. ^ Using HSL color space#Conversion from RGB to HSL or HSV, v=247/255
  11. ^ Tintbooks - Get Accurate CMYK Color Results For Your Printing Projects CMYK color tintbook:
  12. ^ Craig F. Bohren (2001). Clouds in a Glass of Beer: Simple Experiments in Atmospheric Physics. Courier Dover Publications. ISBN 0-486-41738-7. 
  13. ^ Mike Ware (1999). Cyanotype: the history, science and art of photographic printing in Prussian blue. NMSI Trading Ltd. ISBN 1-900747-07-3.