Evolution of the ICC profile connection space

Abstract

The architecture used by the ICC to manage color is based on a device-independent color space called the Profile Connection Space (PCS). Each device relates its color space to that of the PCS, which allows source device profiles to be constructed without knowing the actual destination device and destination device profiles to be constructed without knowing the actual source device. The concept works well and has been widely adopted over the past several years. However, this widespread adoption has increasingly meant that profiles from various vendors will be connected in a color management system. In order for these profiles to work together, they must both implement the PCS in the same manner. Generally, this has been done well, but increasing quality expectations have shown that there are some areas in which the interoperability of profiles could be improved. The ICC has recently approved modifications to the PCS that address these issues. This paper will first describe the current ICC PCS, how it is used, and the interoperability problems that have been encountered. Next, it describes the PCS modification and shows how they improve the interoperability of ICC profiles.