Apple AppleVision 1710AV - Manual (Page 137)

The Macintosh does a lot of work to make sure that the colors you see on
your display closely match the colors you get on your printers, scanners, and
other devices. The software that does this work is called ColorSync. This
appendix explains how ColorSync works and how you can benefit from
using it.
The problem that ColorSync solves
Providing consistent color with desktop computers is a technical challenge.
Reproducing colors consistently from device to device is difficult because
colored light on your display is very different from printed ink. Different
color devices use different methods for representing color information and
produce different ranges of colors.
Displays (and most scanners) produce colors by mixing red, green, and blue
light–called RGB color. Most printers produce colors by mixing cyan (a
shade of blue), magenta (a bright pink), yellow, and black ink—called CMYK
color. Since displays and printers have different color capabilities, they cannot
reproduce each other’s colors exactly.
In addition, no two displays or printers produce exactly the same colors. (You
can see an example of the differences among monitors at a consumer
electronics store, in the section that sells television sets.)
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Appendix A
Working With ColorSync