Graphics

Indexed Color Displays

MATLAB defines a unique colormap as well as fixed colors (which are not part of the colormap) for each figure object. Your computer system stores these color definitions in a color lookup table along with colors used for window borders, backgrounds, and so on.

Indexed color systems associate a color slot (as opposed to a specific color) in the system color table with each screen pixel. When you activate an application program, for example, by moving the focus to a MATLAB figure window, the system loads the colors associated with that program into the color table.

You can create a number of figures on the screen at once, but only one has focus at any given time. When you change the focus to a particular figure, the computer's operating system loads that figure's colormap and all its fixed colors into the system color table.

For example, the color table might be allocated like this.

Controlling How MATLAB Uses Color

Colormap Colors and Fixed Colors