A method and system for an auto-color detection and color transformation is provided including with at least one image signal processor, splitting an input image into a plurality of strips on a page. Each strip is composed of a plurality of pixels. The presence of color data within a strip is determined. Based on a determination that no color data is present within the strip both a monochrome rendering and a simple color rendering of this neutral strip are generated. Based on a determination that color data is present within a strip, the entire page is declared a color page and either one of a simple color rendering (via 1D look up tables) or a complex color rendering (via tetrahedral interpolation) of the strip is generated. Thereafter, only color renderings of subsequent strips is performed for the corresponding page.