Microtek ScanMaker 6100 Pro User Manual page 135

ICC profiles conform to the International Color Consortium profile
specification, allowing the same device profiles to be used across
multiple platforms.
Where Do Color Profiles Come From?
Color Profiles are created by either Kodak scientists or other color
professionals using specialized software packages, sometimes
known as profile building tools.
Kodak scientists use sensitive, specialized equipment to measure
the color characteristics of a representative example of each device,
as supplied by the manufacturer, to determine the intrinsic
properties of the device.
From these measurements they develop a "characterization" of the
device, called a Device Color Profile, for each make and model
measured.
The Color Profile includes color tables that relates the device's color
space to a Profile Connection Space, as well as information about
key attributes of the device for use by CMS-based applications.
A Word about Source and Destination
People often get confused about what is the "source" of an image
and what is its "destination," so let's clarify this.
In general, the "source" of an image refers to where the image
currently is, and the "destination" is where you want the image to
go.
In CMS terms, "source" means the Color Profile used to bring the
image data into the Profile Connection Space (PCS). "Destination"
means which Color Profile is used to get it from PCS to the
destination device. For example, when you scan in an image, you
want it to appear on your monitor. So the source is your scanner,
and its related Color Profile, and the destination is your monitor,
using its Color Profile.