Evolution of magnitudes and colors of GX 339-4 throughout the outburst. V and V − H are observed magnitudes and colors, F_V is corrected for the interstellar extinction flux, and α_VH is the intrinsic spectral slope, computed assuming A_V = 3.58 mag (see Eq. (5)). The dashed pink contour corresponds to the RPh, the top right solid blue contour represents the RHS, the top solid green arrow indicates the HtS transition, dotted orange contour corresponds to the SS, the bottom solid green arrow represents the reverse StH transition, the bottom solid blue contour indicates the DHS, and the solid pink contour corresponds to the DPh. The solid orange line gives the model blackbody curve with log₁₀N_bb = 4.09, see Eq. (1) and the filled blue diamonds along the curve correspond to the temperatures marked on the right. The quiescent state is denoted with letter Q in the lower part of the diagram.