Why do my logo colors look different on different screens?

One of the most common questions we get at Tingalls Graphic Design, and one of the most perplexing problems clients can have, is why their logo or company color schemes look different on different mediums.

The answer is a little complicated, but first think of buying a television. Picture that wall of illuminated flat screens glowing in the back of Best Buy or wherever you get your electronics. They all have different features and different technology. Sure, they are all TVs, but Sony does it differently than Samsung.

Keep that image in your head while you read. Think about how things appear on those TVs — some bright, some muted, some crisp and clean, others fuzzy, vivid, or even a little dizzying.

What is Color?

Color is complicated. We don’t have time for a physics course, but simply put, color is how objects reflect light. A blue object is actually absorbing other light waves and reflecting only blue.

Monitors and Screens

Fifteen years ago, monitors and TVs were big, clunky screens powered by cathode-ray tubes. These days flat screens have replaced CRTs, but they work in a similar way.

A computer monitor — much like a TV — uses tiny dots called pixels that change color. These dots shift between Red, Green, and Blue and blend together in different combinations to create the colors you see. This system is called RGB color, and RGB works by adding colors together to create new images.

Ink Colors

Ink works differently.

Printed materials use combinations of Cyan, Yellow, Magenta, and Black. Another difference is the light-absorbing properties of ink colors. Because of this, CMYK is subtractive when creating colors.

Remember, color is the light waves reflected from an object.

Why Two Color Models?

Simply put, your monitor must change constantly with new screens and images. RGB is additive and flexible, meaning colors are created through light and can shift instantly.

CMYK is permanent ink — once it’s printed on paper, it’s there.

Because these two technologies work differently, they don’t exist in the same space, which makes comparing them difficult.

Also remember:

Red is not Magenta.
Blue is not Cyan.

They are similar, but they are not the same. Because of this, it’s impossible for RGB colors to match CMYK colors perfectly.

Now think again about that wall of TVs at Best Buy. The hardware and software inside each device is different. Even though they all use RGB color, it’s very difficult for them to display colors exactly the same.

If you add personal settings like brightness or contrast into the mix, there’s really no way to perfectly match a printed color with what you see on a screen.

What Should You Do?

Pantone colors are based on CMYK and are used as an industry standard.

The Pantone Matching System (PMS) is the most accurate way to control color in print, and Pantone also provides RGB versions for many of their colors. However, these versions often don’t match perfectly. It’s simply a side effect of the two technologies working differently.

If you have questions about your corporate color palette — or if you’d like to stop by and see your colors in a Pantone swatch book — just let us know!