What does Saturation control?

• A. Brightness
• B. Contrast
• C. The strength or intensity of color
• D. Luminance

Answer: (C)

Saturation controls how pure or vivid a color appears. When saturation is high, colors look strong and intense; when it’s low, colors look muted or washed out because more gray is mixed in. It doesn’t change how light or dark the color is—that’s determined by brightness or luminance. And it doesn’t alter the difference between light and dark areas, which is what contrast affects. For example, a fully saturated red is bold, while reducing saturation makes it pinkish or grayish red, and at zero saturation it becomes gray.