CIE 1931 diagram · coverage = intersection ÷ reference · area ratio = comparison ÷ reference
Measured primary coordinates (x, y)
xy
The two gamuts on the CIE 1931 diagram
––
Coverage
–
–
how much of the reference is covered
Area ratio
–
–
comparison area ÷ reference area
Primary coordinates (x, y)
Reference x
Reference y
Comparison x
Comparison y
R
G
B
Method · coverage ≠ area ratio
Area is the area of the triangle whose vertices are the x, y of the three primaries (R, G, B), via the shoelace formula ½·|Σ(xᵢyⱼ−xⱼyᵢ)|.
Area ratio = comparison triangle area ÷ reference triangle area × 100. Often advertised as 'OO% of DCI-P3', but it ignores where the triangles overlap. If the comparison spills outside the reference, a larger area alone can read over 100%.
Coverage = area(comparison ∩ reference) ÷ reference area × 100. The actual intersection of the two triangles is found by Sutherland–Hodgman convex clipping, then divided by the reference area. It is the fraction of the target the comparison can really reproduce, so it is the honest number for panel evaluation. The filled region in the diagram is that intersection.
※ Area on the xy plane is not perceptually uniform (it exaggerates the green region). Switch the Chromaticity plane toggle above to CIE 1976 u′v′ and the same coverage and area ratio are recomputed on a more perceptually uniform plane.