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[infinitys_7th]

So, I remembered this phenomenon from a few years, but near saw anyone do an actual analysis on it. The following is something that anyone can do with any kind of image editing software, including Paint. In fact, I made this in Paint. I choose two areas on the dress to examine, drew circles around them to limit where I target, and then used the Eyedropper tool to see what colors were actually in the image in RGB color space:

The "gold" color (which is supposedly black) is somewhere between red and yellow in RGB colorspace, which falls in line with gold. It is a relatively dark color, as indicated by the individual color values being low.

The "white" color (which is supposedly blue) is between blue and green, or "cyan". It is a relatively light color, as indicated by the individual color values being high.

Regardless of what color the dress is in real life, the image of the dress is clearly not "blue and black", and is closer to the "white and gold" interpretation. Without additional information in terms of lighting, "white and gold" is the most closest description, as those are the colors in the photo - a dark goldish brown, and a near-white light blue.

 

[Red Crayon Aristocrat]

It's so obviously a very, very light blue and a brownish gold.

End of story.

 

[Cunth]

So, I remembered this phenomenon from a few years, but near saw anyone do an actual analysis on it. The following is something that anyone can do with any kind of image editing software, including Paint. In fact, I made this in Paint. I choose two areas on the dress to examine, drew circles around them to limit where I target, and then used the Eyedropper tool to see what colors were actually in the image in RGB color space:

The "gold" color (which is supposedly black) is somewhere between red and yellow in RGB colorspace, which falls in line with gold. It is a relatively dark color, as indicated by the individual color values being low.

The "white" color (which is supposedly blue) is between blue and green, or "cyan". It is a relatively light color, as indicated by the individual color values being high.

Regardless of what color the dress is in real life, the image of the dress is clearly not "blue and black", and is closer to the "white and gold" interpretation. Without additional information in terms of lighting, "white and gold" is the most closest description, as those are the colors in the photo - a dark goldish brown, and a near-white light blue.

What are you talking about

 

[infinitys_7th]

What are you talking about

So there are multiple ways to represent color numerical within color spaces, which are basically axes that reflect color content in terms of base colors.

RGB color space is an additive color space, meaning colors are generating by adding red, green, and/or blue. The colors are coded in (R,G,B) triplets, with each color using 8 bits to store magnitude (i.e. the value can range from 0-255 in decimal). (0,0,0) is black, as black is the absence of color, while (255,255,255) is white, which is an equal balance of all colors. (x,x,x) is gray, which is darker for lower x's and lighter for higher x's.

Of course, (x,0,0) is some shade of red, (0,x,0) is some shade of green, and (0,0,x) is some shade of blue. You can mix colors by having a range of values in the triplet.

 

[Cunth]

So there are multiple ways to represent color numerical within color spaces, which are basically axes that reflect color content in terms of base colors.

RGB color space is an additive color space, meaning colors are generating by adding red, green, and/or blue. The colors are coded in (R,G,B) triplets, with each color using 8 bits to store magnitude (i.e. the value can range from 0-255 in decimal). (0,0,0) is black, as black is the absence of color, while (255,255,255) is white, which is an equal balance of all colors. (x,x,x) is gray, which is darker for lower x's and lighter for higher x's.

Of course, (x,0,0) is some shade of red, (0,x,0) is some shade of green, and (0,0,x) is some shade of blue. You can mix colors by having a range of values in the triplet.

Oh you missed my picture joke

 

[infinitys_7th]

Oh you missed my picture joke

Oh, shit. I thought that was an effect from the picture being in the quote lol

 

[mrkgoo]

At the time, I was able to convince my mind that it was either set, if I gave my self enough focus - like the silhouette of the woman spinning on one leg (is it clockwise or anti clockwise?).

The thing with the dress is that while it's literally blue and gold when measured, the interpretation can be black and white, because your brain has a knack of being able to white balance out ambient light.

Like warm lighting in a room with incandescent bulbs (which are very yellow) can put a colour cast on everything you see, but your brain can sort of balance it out - like you look at something blue and accept it as blue, even though technically, the wavelength of light bouncing off it is approaching green, or whatever. Or perhaps a more accurate example is you will see a white piece of paper in incandescent light as white, though really it's the colour of the warm light.

In that way, some people actually perceived the picture of the dress as white and black.

If i recall, one could tend to shift the perception based on the ambient light when viewing, like whether you saw the image with warm ambient light or back drops etc.

 

[Grinchy]

I could only ever see white and gold (though with the white parts looking wrong because of the lighting).

 

[Gavin Stevens]

The problem is that the picture was taken, edited, and then that picture was released around as the official one. Its a picture of a blue and black dress with brightness and gamma adjustments, either made at the time of the snap or after. Theres no magic. Its just that people can tell "oh shit yeah that's what happens when my phone takes a bad pic".