{"id":1776,"date":"2022-04-13T15:32:10","date_gmt":"2022-04-13T22:32:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crystalfontz.com\/blog\/?p=1776"},"modified":"2025-05-01T14:08:55","modified_gmt":"2025-05-01T21:08:55","slug":"rgb-and-color-depth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crystalfontz.com\/blog\/rgb-and-color-depth\/","title":{"rendered":"RGB and Color Depth"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How do TFTs show color? What is color depth for RGB<\/a> displays? What is the difference between 16.7M colors and 262k? Let’s explore it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Do TFT LCDs Show Color?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To start, let’s discuss how RGB LCDs work. TFT LCDs<\/a> (thin film transistor liquid crystal displays) comprise a series of layers:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Each pixel of a TFT<\/a> LCD<\/a> is made up of three subpixels<\/a>. One each for red, green, and blue. Each of these subpixels has an individual transistor from the thin film transistor layer that controls the amount of current at the subpixel. The liquid crystals for each subpixel are affected by the voltage level at the transistor, which causes their structure to change relative to the voltage level. Different liquid crystal structures allow different amounts of light from the backlight<\/a> through the subpixel. Then the color filter makes that light either red, green, or blue. The colors from the three subpixels combine to create the desired color.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does this have to do with color depth?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Color depth refers to the number of different possible displayable colors. The LCD controller chip in the tail of our RGB TFTs dictates that display’s color depth. The chips accept and control a certain number of steps for each color. This will be described in our datasheet as well as the LCD controller datasheet. The color depth may not be directly stated, but instead be referred to as ___-bit RGB. For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n