Introduction

Before we go into the differences between reflected color and projected color, I wanted to talk about what color really is. In as short and simple terms as I can make it, color is what we can see based on the electromagnetic spectrum. It’s a frequency so high he measures it by wavelength distances. 

Okay, now that you know what color is, let’s go into the differences between reflected and projected color.

Reflected vs Projected Color

To put it in simplest terms, reflected color is color that appears when light bounces off a surface, while projected color is the light that comes from a digital device. But what does that entail? Lets get into it.

Reflected Color

 Reflected color is the color that something appears to be when light is reflected on it. The light’s wavelengths are what we perceive as color, and some of those wavelengths are absorbed instead. An example would be when light falls on a blueberry, the blue is reflected and all other colors is absorbed.

Projected Color

Color shows on a smart device like a phone or computer because the light source that it needs what it is being projected from. And instead of the traditional color wheel of red, blue, and yellow, the color wheel for projected light is red, blue and green. This color wheel is commonly refered to as the R-G-B color space. The secondary colors of this are cyan, yellow, and magenta, which is why printer ink cartridges use those colors. So when you think of projected colors, think literally about a projector, which is just a bunch of light making those wavelengths of color so it can project color.