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Since it's been 10 years now, what color is the dress to you? 👀


I saw this come up in my feed again & it made me wonder what the truth was. I've only ever saw it as blue & black but I thought I was wrong since I figured the lighting was messing with how my eyes perceived it.

Our eyes DO try to make corrections in color based on the surrounding lighting & it's not the same for everyone so that's why some of us see one thing, while the rest see another. I'm no expert or anything but this guy made it make sense for me

[media=https://youtu.be/FdvLXsFarVI]

Officially, it is a blue & black dress from a brand called Roman Originals
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DeWayfarer · 61-69, M
This has a lot to do with what is called dithering as well as lighting.

There's no way they can get around dithering in web images. It's the result of how colors are combined.

This site itself WILL compress any images shown. Your image is in .webp format. That means it was DITHERED.

Dithering is a technique used in digital imaging to create the illusion of more colors and smooth gradients by intentionally adding noise to an image.

This method helps to reduce quantization errors and prevent visible banding in images, especially when working with limited color palettes. blog.maximeheckel.com Wikipedia

Understanding Dithering

Dithering is a technique used in digital imaging to create the illusion of a wider range of colors and shades than are actually available. It works by arranging pixels of different colors in a way that tricks the human eye into perceiving intermediate colors. This is particularly useful when reducing the number of colors in an image, such as converting a full-color image to black and white.

How Dithering Works

Quantization: This is the process of mapping a large set of colors to a smaller set. When an image is quantized, some colors are lost, which can create harsh transitions or banding.

Noise Addition: Dithering introduces controlled noise to the image. This random noise helps to smooth out the transitions between colors, making the image appear more natural.

Applications of Dithering

Dithering is widely used in various fields, including:

Digital Photography: To enhance images when converting from high to low color depths.

Digital Audio: To reduce quantization errors in sound recordings.

Web Images: To simulate colors that cannot be displayed on devices with limited color palettes.

Importance of Lighting

Lighting also plays a crucial role in how images are perceived. Proper lighting can enhance the effectiveness of dithering by highlighting the subtle variations created through this technique. When combined with dithering, good lighting can make images appear richer and more detailed, even when using a limited color palette.

In summary, dithering is essential for creating visually appealing images, especially when working with limited colors, and lighting enhances the overall perception of these images.
Adobe albumentations.ai

This process might as well appear as different colors to people's perceptions of colors as well in different lighting.

GPT-4o mini
The Impact of Dithering and Lighting on Color Perception

Dithering and lighting both play significant roles in how we perceive colors in images. Understanding their effects can help clarify why colors may appear differently under various conditions.

Dithering and Color Perception

Dithering creates the illusion of a broader color range by mixing pixels of different colors. This technique can lead to:

Visual Blending: When two colors are dithered together, the human eye perceives them as a new color, which can enhance the overall appearance of an image.

Reduced Banding: In areas with subtle gradients, dithering helps to minimize the appearance of banding, making transitions smoother and more visually appealing.

However, the effectiveness of dithering can vary based on the viewer's perception and the display medium.

The Role of Lighting

Lighting conditions significantly influence how colors are perceived.

Factors include:

Color Temperature: Different light sources (e.g., incandescent, fluorescent, daylight) emit varying color temperatures, which can alter the appearance of colors. For instance, warm light can make colors appear more yellow, while cool light can enhance blue tones.

Intensity and Direction: The intensity and angle of light can create shadows and highlights, affecting how colors are seen. A color may look vibrant in direct light but muted in shadow.

Combining dithering with different lighting conditions can lead to a complex interplay in color perception, making it essential to consider both elements in digital imaging and design.

Understanding these factors can help artists, designers, and photographers create more effective and visually appealing works.

In compressed web images dithering is often used to reduce the size of the image.
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GPT-4o mini
Dithering in Compressed Web Images

Dithering is indeed a valuable technique in the context of compressed web images, particularly for optimizing file sizes while maintaining visual quality.

How Dithering Reduces Image Size

When images are compressed, especially in formats like GIF or PNG, they often use a limited color palette. Dithering helps in several ways:

Color Reduction: By using dithering, images can effectively simulate colors that are not present in the limited palette. This allows for a smaller number of colors to be used without significantly impacting the visual quality.

File Size Optimization: Fewer colors mean that the image data can be stored more efficiently. This results in smaller file sizes, which is crucial for web performance and faster loading times.

Types of Dithering Techniques

There are various dithering techniques that can be employed, including:

Floyd-Steinberg Dithering: This is a popular method that distributes the quantization error to neighboring pixels, creating a more visually appealing result.

Ordered Dithering: This technique uses a fixed pattern to determine how to distribute colors, which can be less computationally intensive but may produce a more uniform appearance.

Using dithering in compressed web images strikes a balance between quality and performance, making it a common practice in web design and development.
ChiefJustWalks · 26-30
@DeWayfarer I was actually wondering if the way our digital screens affect pictures could affect the way we perceive the colors in them too, except I had no way of asking or wondering about that out loud in a way that makes sense 😂 basically, I didn't know how to describe what I was thinking so I couldn't even explain it, to even ask a question like that. But you gave me an answer here so that's pretty awesome. Not only did you answer it but you provided sources to explain it on a level that makes it understandable. I'm one of those people who understands things the best when I understand the how & why it works that way.

I didn't even know what dithering was nor have I ever wondered about some of the other stuff you mentioned so I learned a lot right now. Although I'd probably never repeat it because I'm not a computer guy & I'd just sound like an idiot who's pretending to know what he's talking about 😅
DeWayfarer · 61-69, M
@ChiefJustWalks Just trying to pass on some of the knowledge that I do have.

I was in both computers and photography in 1976. As well as had a tiny bit to do with the mpeg video format in 1991.