Hue vs. Saturation — What's the Difference?

A term representing the base attribute of a color, indicating which color family it belongs to.

Refers to the intensity or vividness of a color.

The specific color observed in the color spectrum, such as red, blue, or yellow.

The extent to which a hue appears rich or pale in a visual element.

A color’s position on the color wheel or spectrum, measured in degrees.

A measurement of color vibrancy or how far a color is from its neutral gray.

The quality by which we distinguish one color from another, associated with the dominant wavelength of light.

A term describing the purity of a color, with higher values indicating less dilution by light.

Represents the pure spectrum of colors in the color wheel without the addition of white or black.

The act or process of saturating.

In color theory, hue is one of the main properties (called color appearance parameters) of a color, defined technically in the CIECAM02 model as "the degree to which a stimulus can be described as similar to or different from stimuli that are described as red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple," which in certain theories of color vision are called unique hues. Hue can typically be represented quantitatively by a single number, often corresponding to an angular position around a central or neutral point or axis on a color space coordinate diagram (such as a chromaticity diagram) or color wheel, or by its dominant wavelength or that of its complementary color.

The condition of being saturated.

The property of colors by which they can be perceived as ranging from red through yellow, green, blue, and violet, as determined by the dominant wavelengths of the light being reflected, transmitted, or emitted. See Table at color.

The condition of being full to or beyond satisfaction; satiety.

A particular gradation of color; a shade or tint.

(Physics) A state of a ferromagnetic substance in which an increase in applied magnetic field strength does not produce an increase in magnetization.

Color

(Chemistry) The state of a compound or solution that is fully saturated.

Appearance; aspect

(Meteorology) A condition in which air at a specific temperature contains all the water vapor it can hold; 100 percent relative humidity.

A color, or shade of color; tint; dye.

Vividness of hue; degree of difference from a gray of the same lightness or brightness. Also called intensity. See Table at color.

The characteristic related to the light frequency that appears in the color, for instance red, yellow, green, cyan, blue or magenta.

Intensive shelling or bombing of a military target to achieve total destruction.

(figuratively) A character; aspect.

The flooding of a market with all of a commodity that consumers can purchase.

(obsolete) Form; appearance; guise.

The act of saturating or the process of being saturated

(obsolete) A shout or cry.

(physics) The condition in which, after a sufficient increase in a causal force, no further increase in the resultant effect is possible; e.g. the state of a ferromagnetic material that cannot be further magnetized

Color or shade of color; tint; dye.

(chemistry) The state of a saturated solution

A predominant shade in a composition of primary colors; a primary color modified by combination with others.

(chemistry) The state of an organic compound that has no double or triple bonds

A shouting or vociferation.

(meteorology) The state of the atmosphere when it is saturated with water vapour; 100% humidity

The quality of a color as determined by its dominant wavelength

(art) The intensity or vividness of a colour.

Take on color or become colored;

(color) Chromatic purity; freedom from dilution with white.

Suffuse with color

Intense bombing of a military target with the aim of destroying it

The flooding of a market with all of a product that can be sold

(music) An effect on the sound of an electric guitar, used primarily in heavy metal music

(telecommunications) The condition at which a component of the system has reached its maximum traffic-handling capacity, i.e. one erlang per circuit.

(telecommunications) The point at which the output of a linear device, such as a linear amplifier, deviates significantly from being a linear function of the input when the input signal is increased.

The act of saturating, or the state of being saturating; complete penetration or impregnation.

The act, process, or result of saturating a substance, or of combining it to its fullest extent.

Freedom from mixture or dilution with white; purity; - said of colors.

The process of totally saturating something with a substance;

The act of soaking thoroughly with a liquid

A condition in which a quantity no longer responds to some external influence

Chromatic purity: freedom from dilution with white and hence vividness of hue

Represents the degree to which a color is undiluted by white light.

Hue refers to the dominant color perceived, the basic attribute of a color.

Saturation refers to the intensity or purity of a color, while hue refers to the color itself.

Essentially yes, hue is the quality by which we distinguish colors, it's the color itself.

Absolutely, higher saturation can convey energy and vibrancy, while lower saturation can convey subtlety and calmness.

Yes, adjusting the hue will change the perceived base color.

Yes, increasing saturation makes the color appear more vibrant and intense.

Saturation is usually represented as a percentage, ranging from 0% (gray) to 100% (fully saturated color).

Yes, a color can be dark but also highly saturated, meaning it is a pure, intense version of the hue.

Yes, hue is often measured as an angle on the color wheel, ranging from 0° to 360°.