Despite the fact that all modern computer gaming monitors can display thousands or millions of different colors, many of us perceive colors very differently. This idea is the big question of why colors tend to look different on different monitors. Well, aside from obvious fixes like adjusting brightness and contrast here are some of the other reasons why it was difficult to reproduce colors correctly or consistently.
One cause of the differences between displays is the use of color spaces. The human eye can distinguish millions of colors, but monitors cannot reproduce all of them. Instead, monitors use a subset of colors known as the color space. The default color space for modern displays is the sRGB which can be handled easily by displays and graphics card among others. But other high-end monitors supports Adobe RGB wherein the color space is more spread out.
Another thing that affects the colors in monitors is the bit depth. Many monitors used an 8-bit which means the intensity of red, green and blue are expressed with an 8-bit value. In other words, there will be 255 possible values ranging from pure white to a completely saturated green or blue. On the other hand, other monitors use 10-bit which has 1,023 values, meaning they can display over a billion colors making gradients appear smoother.
The type of panel can also affect the colors in monitors. Cheaper TN Panels do not have high viewing angles making the colors washed out. On the contrary, IPS Panels are much better regarding viewing angles thus making the colors look great. Also, monitors with low native contrast can have poor black levels unlike those with higher native contrast. Backlighting in different monitors is also a factor why colors vary.
Lastly, humans perceive colors differently. Some people have 20 20 vision while others have their eyeglasses to have clearer eyesight. As much as manufacturers wanted to have consistent colors on all monitors, it just won’t happen with these different factors. Let’s just say; these factors are just making the modern display world more colorful.