Comments on: If you care about that what-color-is-the-dress thing…

By: tired of all the crap

tired of all the crap — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 01:12:46 +0000

Another source of confusion: over at Ace’s place they are saying that Boehner looks orange; I don’t see it, more yella he looks to me.

By: CV

CV — Tue, 03 Mar 2015 00:43:04 +0000

I think the whole thing is fascinating. When my teenage son (certified colorblind!) showed me the picture on his phone and asked what color I saw, I said white and gold (obviously!) brushed him off. He insisted it was blue and black. At that point neither of us was aware of the viral phenomenon. Later, after seeing more pictures and media coverage (including a better photo of the actual blue and black dress), I found that the original image actually got darker the longer I stared at it. Not sure what that means other than I am possibly very suggestible.

Obviously not everyone perceives the world as I do. Shocking!

By: El Polacko

El Polacko — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 23:42:57 +0000

True, I did see only three different photos side by side, but the more I stewed about it, I also realized that I failed to consider that people looking at the pic were doing it on a smart phone, tablet or computer screen.

The odds of a significant percentage of that equipment having a properly color calibrated screen are between zero and none, which can only add another layer of subjective observation to this distraction.

Now my head hurts.

By: Mrs Whatsit

Mrs Whatsit — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 18:43:31 +0000

El Polacko, you’ve misunderstood. The original phenomenon dealt with only one photograph, not three, and there was no intentional distortion. As I understand the story, a mother of the bride (or groom) took a quick photo of the dress she intended to wear to the wedding with her cell phone and sent it to the bride and groom. When they couldn’t agree on the color of the dress in the photo, they posted it on social media to get their friends’ opinions, and the thing went viral. In that single photograph, different observers see different colors.

If you’ve seen three different photos of the same dress, you’re seeing some sort of subsequent tinkering with the original photo. Not the same thing as the original phenomenon.

By: El Polacko

El Polacko — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 16:44:34 +0000

Color perception is indeed subjective (what is the real color of the dress?) but other commenters make the same point, like Al W above:

“…I don’t know if that is because of the whole CMYK/RGB, subtractive vs additive thing or just because the source of light caused me to be fooled…”

Before digital, light source differences were dealt with by using specific films or filters to warm or cool the light source.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

By: neo-neocon

neo-neocon — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 16:21:09 +0000

El Polacko:

But that’s not the point. The point is that everyone is looking at the same distorted image and calling it a different color. It’s about color perception, not about the real color of the dress.

By: El Polacko

El Polacko — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 15:05:25 +0000

This is probably one of the silliest internet “phenoms” I have ever seen.

This is not an optical illusion.

These are photographs deliberately manipulated by tinkering with a feature on better digital cameras called the white balance.

It is a feature that allows the camera to produce accurate color rendition under different kinds of light.

Subjects photographed in bright daylight require a different white balance adjustment than those photographed under artificial light or even under cloudy skies.

This adjustability can also be used in reverse to generate inaccurate color rendition, and this what has happened here in three different photographs.

Different colors are seen because the photographer intentionally distorted the images.

By: Lea

Lea — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 14:40:51 +0000

Think of an optical illusion where you can’t see the effect until somebody points it out, then you can’t miss it.

Not for me. I have started at it multiple times and the only blue I can see if a faint hint around the edges.

I think it looks better in white and gold anyways.

By: Al W

Al W — Sun, 01 Mar 2015 14:07:37 +0000

On the internet it looked white/gold but in the newspaper it was obviously blue/black. I don’t know if that is because of the whole CMYK/RGB, subtractive vs additive thing or just because the source of light caused me to be fooled.

By: FOAF

FOAF — Sun, 01 Mar 2015 11:43:10 +0000

I agree with rickl – blue and gold. I do not see any black. If you are seeing the lighter part as white you are inferring that the photo was taken with a blue filter.