Data-dependent color display for vectorscopes

A data-dependent color display for vector data separates chrominance from a video signal as a pair of orthogonal chrominance components P r , P b . The pair of chrominance components are used as addresses to access a vector memory 16 . An intensity value at the location within the vector memory accessed by the chrominance pair of addresses is incremented by each such access. During a display cycle the intensity values from the vector memory are converted into color values as a function of their locations within the vector memory. The color values are displayed in a display area on a display screen 24 to provide a colored vector display where the color at any point along the vector display is a function of the point's angular position with respect to a center of the display and distance from the center. A decay function may be applied periodically to the intensity values, and a varying color border may be provided for the display area eg for a picture-in-picture display, where the color at any point along the border is a function of that point's angular position with respect to the center. Alternatively the display area may be colored to represent color space and the intensity values are displayed in contrasting white or black against such background.