System and method for generating multiprimary signals for use in display devices. A preferred embodiment comprises converting a color signal into an intermediate color space representation of the color signal, converting one of a plurality of multiprimary signals that is a representation of the color signal into an intermediate color space representation of the multiprimary signal, computing a quality measure of the intermediate color space representations of the color signal and the multiprimary signal, repeating the converting of a multiprimary signal and the computing for the remainder of the plurality of multiprimary signals, and selecting a multiprimary signal that optimizes the quality measure. The quality measure can consider requirements such as those minimizing a distance between the color signal and the multiprimary signal, an energy change as well as a phase change between the multiprimary signal and its neighbors, all leading to improved image quality.