CIELAB, also known as the CIE 1976 (L*, a*, b*) color space, is a color-opponent space with dimensions L* for lightness and a* and b* for the color-opponent dimensions, designed to approximate human vision and serve as a device-independent model to describe all perceivable colors. It is widely used in various industries for color management and conversion because it provides a perceptually uniform representation of color differences.