Does a phone with multi-million color display actually help?

Our eyes are better than the best Photoshop software and can distinguish almost 1 million colors. The retina has specialized cells called “cones” that help us see colors. The maximum concentration of these cones is at a point called the fovea in the retina. Thus this area of the eye is the one which is most sensitive to color.
 

So how do we distinguish colors? We all know that different colors have different wavelengths. Every object reflects certain wavelengths depending on its color. The amount of light reflected by an object in a particular wavelength determines what color is perceived by us. For example, if you analyze the light being reflected by a yellow school bus, you will realize that majority of the light being reflected by it falls in the yellow spectrum. Hence, it is perceived by us as yellow. 

Different types of cones contain different types of pigments: blue, red and green. A deficiency of any 1 or more type of cones can lead to color blindness which is a genetically transmitted condition. Recent research suggests that the brain also plays a very important part in color perception. This is supported by the fact that there might be a 40 fold difference in the number of cones people have with no difference in the colors they perceive. 

So, now that we know you can differentiate upto 1 million colors, how about the phone ads that claim that the instrument can display 3 million distinct colors? You now know that there is no way to prove it. Seeing is believing, ain't it?