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LCHColor[l,c,h]

represents a color in the LCH color space with lightness l, chroma c and hue h.

LCHColor[l,c,h,a]

specifies opacity a.

LCHColor["string"]

returns a color from an HTML color name etc.

LCHColor[color]

returns the LCH representation of color.

Details
Details and Options Details and Options
Examples  
Basic Examples  
Scope  
Colors in 3D  
Color Operations  
Generalizations & Extensions  
Applications  
Properties & Relations  
Interactive Examples  
Neat Examples  
See Also
Tech Notes
Related Guides
History
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LCHColor

LCHColor[l,c,h]

represents a color in the LCH color space with lightness l, chroma c and hue h.

LCHColor[l,c,h,a]

specifies opacity a.

LCHColor["string"]

returns a color from an HTML color name etc.

LCHColor[color]

returns the LCH representation of color.

Details

  • LCHColor is a perceptual color space corresponding to a cylindrical transformation of LABColor with the a and b components represented in polar form in terms of c and h, allowing for easier interpretation of color parameters.
  • LCHColor is device independent and corresponds to the CIE color space with .
  • Components , and can be derived from , and parameters of LABColor:
    		• lightness, approximate luminance
    		• chroma, color saturation
    		• hue, cyclic color from red to green to blue
  • ColorConvert can be used to convert to and from other color spaces such as RGB and XYZ.
  • LCHColor allows any real number for l, c, and h.
  • If no opacity has been specified, LCHColor[l,c,h] is equivalent to LCHColor[l,c,h,1].
  • LCHColor[l,c,h,a] is equivalent to {LCHColor[l,c,h],Opacity[a]}.
  • The alternative forms LCHColor[{l,c,h}] and LCHColor[{l,c,h,a}] can also be used. »
  • RGBColor approximately corresponds to l between 0 and 1, c between 0 and 1.3, and h between 0 and 1.
  • The following wrappers can be used around colors:
  • ColorsNear[color,…]specifies a region around color
    Directive[…,color,…]specifies a color in combination with other directives
    Glow[color]specifies color independent of lighting »
    Opacity[a,color]specifies a color with an opacity a »
    Specularity[color,…]specifies the specularity color
    Style[expr,color]displays expr with the specified color »
  • For 3D surfaces, explicit LCHColor directives define surface colors; the final shading depends on lighting and contributions from specularity and glow. »

Examples

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Basic Examples  (4)

Specify the color of graphics primitives:

Wolfram Language code: Graphics[{LCHColor[0.5, 1, 0], Disk[]}]

Specify the color with opacity:

Wolfram Language code: Graphics3D[{LCHColor[0.5, 1, 0, 0.5], Sphere[]}]

Specify the output color of expressions:

Wolfram Language code: Style[x ^ 2 + y ^ 2, LCHColor[0.5, 1, 0]]

Specify the color of plots:

Wolfram Language code: Plot[Sin[x ^ 2], {x, 0, 2Pi}, PlotStyle -> LCHColor[.6, .5, 1]]

Scope  (2)

Colors in 3D  (1)

Use diffuse surface color:

Wolfram Language code: Graphics3D[{LCHColor[.4, 1, 0], Sphere[]}]

Use diffuse and specular surface color:

Wolfram Language code: Graphics3D[{LCHColor[.4, 1, 0], Specularity[White, 20], Sphere[]}]

Use glow color, setting the diffuse surface color to black:

Wolfram Language code: Graphics3D[{Black, Glow[LCHColor[.4, 1, 0]], Sphere[]}]

Color Operations  (1)

Use Lighter and Darker to mix with white and black, respectively:

Wolfram Language code: {Graphics[{Lighter[LCHColor[0.5, 0.8, 0.7], .4], Disk[]}], Graphics[{LCHColor[0.5, 0.8, 0.7], Disk[]}], Graphics[{Darker[LCHColor[0.5, 0.8, 0.7], .4], Disk[]}]}

Generalizations & Extensions  (2)

LCHColor[{l,c,h}] is equivalent to LCHColor[l,c,h]:

Wolfram Language code: {Graphics[{LCHColor[{1, 1, 0}], Disk[]}], Graphics[{LCHColor[1, 1, 0], Disk[]}]}

Use Opacity with LCHColor:

Wolfram Language code: Table[Graphics[{Orange, Disk[{1, 0}], Opacity[a], LCHColor[1 / 2, 1 / 2, 1 / 3], Disk[]}], {a, 0, 1, .33}]

Use the opacity argument in LCHColor directly:

Wolfram Language code: Table[Graphics[{Orange, Disk[{1, 0}], LCHColor[1 / 2, 1 / 2, 1 / 3, a], Disk[]}], {a, 0, 1, .33}]

Applications  (1)

Perform a color desaturation by lowering the chroma while preserving luminance and hue:

Wolfram Language code: img = ColorConvert[[image], LCHColor];
Wolfram Language code: ImageApply[{1, .3, 1}#&, img]

Properties & Relations  (2)

LCHColor is a cylindrical transformation of LABColor:

Wolfram Language code: ChromaticityPlot3D["LCH", "LAB", PlotPoints -> 35]

Blend of LCHColor directives happens in LCh parameter space:

Wolfram Language code: {c1, c2} = {LCHColor[.5, 0, 1], LCHColor[0.5, 1, 0]}; Blend[{c1, c2}]//InputForm
Wolfram Language code: Table[Graphics[{color, Disk[]}], {color, {c1, Blend[{c1, c2}], c2}}]

Interactive Examples  (1)

Perform dynamic color adaptation in LCh:

Wolfram Language code: With[{ img = ColorConvert[[image], LCHColor]}, Manipulate[ {img, ImageApply[{l, c, 1}# + {0, 0, h}&, img]}, {{l, 1.5}, 0, 3}, {{c, .4}, 0, 3}, {{h, .8}, 0, 1} ]]

Neat Examples  (1)

Visualizing the color space:

Wolfram Language code: Graphics3D[{Opacity[.7], {LCHColor[#], Cuboid[#, # + {.1, .1, .1}]}& /@ Tuples[{Range[0, 1, .2], Range[0, 1, .2], Range[0, 1, .2]}]}, Axes -> True, AxesLabel -> {"L", "c", "h"}, Lighting -> "Neutral", BoxRatios -> 1]
Wolfram Research (2014), LCHColor, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/LCHColor.html (updated 2021).

Text

Wolfram Research (2014), LCHColor, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/LCHColor.html (updated 2021).

CMS

Wolfram Language. 2014. "LCHColor." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. Last Modified 2021. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/LCHColor.html.

APA

Wolfram Language. (2014). LCHColor. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/LCHColor.html

BibTeX

@misc{reference.wolfram_2026_lchcolor, author="Wolfram Research", title="{LCHColor}", year="2021", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/LCHColor.html}", note=[Accessed: 13-June-2026]}

BibLaTeX

@online{reference.wolfram_2026_lchcolor, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={LCHColor}, year={2021}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/LCHColor.html}, note=[Accessed: 13-June-2026]}