What does additive color refer to?

Additive color refers specifically to a color mixing technique that involves combining light to create new colors. In this process, different colors of light, such as red, blue, and green, are overlapped, and adding these colors together results in a lighter color. When all primary colors of light are combined in equal measure, they create white light. This method is fundamental to various applications such as computer screens and televisions, where colors are produced through light emission.

Other options do not accurately describe additive color. For instance, the method of mixing pigments, which is more concerned with subtractive color mixing, involves mixing physical substances that absorb and reflect light, not combining light itself. The mention of colors produced by the reflection of light pertains more to phenomena like the color of objects under light rather than the mixing of colored light. Lastly, a color system used in painting typically relies on subtractive color techniques, where pigments are mixed to produce various colors, again differing from the concept of additive color.