8 HN users recommended this explainer8 months2020–2026score 9
Years with an HN recommendation, 2007–2026
HN repeatedly recommends it as a surprisingly magical explainer on color perception, often cited in color-space discussions.
Technology Connections explains why brown is not a spectral color but a context-dependent perception, essentially dark orange seen against brighter surroundings.
“made me watch a 20 minutes videos on the color brown and makes it feel like magic” (HN, 2024)
I love how well that channel is doing. It's an endless rabbit hole of fascination. I will never look at the color brown the same way again: [this video]
Fyi on a semi-related topic I learned from a fascinating Youtube video... the color "brown" is a psychological construct[0]. But from an RGB perspective ... there's no such color as "brown"; it's actually just "orange" in a particular context: [this video] [0] pedantic alert: yes "every color" is ultimately a mental construct of the brain but hopefully you know what I mean
Explains brown as a context-dependent perceptual color.
Worth watching the Technology Connection video on the colour Brown [1]. It's a strange colour that only really exists when placed in the context of other colours, not something that can really be produced by a pure RGB light source, which explains why the CSS Brown colour looks red. [1]: [this video]
Worth watching the Technology Connection video on the colour Brown [1]. It's a strange colour that only really exists when placed in the context of other colours, not something that can really be produced by a pure RGB light source, which explains why the CSS Brown colour looks red. [1]: [this video]
Explains why brown only exists in context and cannot be a pure light source.
A great video demonstrating the strangeness of representing colours is this video on the colour brown: [this video] Colour theory can get pretty complicated, the video is however very understandable as well as interesting :)
Accessible, interesting look at how strange colour representation is, via brown.
It seems I learn something new every day about our visual system. Thanks for sharing. Last week, it was a link to Technology Connections' video on the colour brown[0]. I also really enjoyed reading Foone's older blog post, "The EYES Have It"[1]. [0] [this video] [1] [link]
Informative video on the colour brown and the visual system.
In response to the observation the average pixel color is surprisingly brown, I'll take today's opportunity to induct some of my fellow HNers into today's lucky 10,000 by linking Technology Connections's "Color is weird" video ( [this video] ).
Introduces the lucky-10,000 audience to why brown is odd.
Brown is weird [1]. It's basically dark orange. Flesh tones fall into that same category - people are orange-hued [2]. Oranges/reds are mostly produced by various unsaturated molecules, such as carotenes, lignins, phenols, and tars, and browns are just dark collections of many kinds red-orange pigments. It does not map well to any of the common color spaces because its inherently heterogeneous. The solution would probably be pallettes that let you pick arbitrary axes to move through color space. 1 - [this video] 2 - According to Neil Harbisson, the guy with the color-sensing antenna, in-person conversation, but you can also verify with photoshop.
Cited as source that brown is a context-dependent dark orange.
Brown is different, because you can only see it in the right context, otherwise it becomes orange. You cannot create brown light sources. [this video] Not naming certain colours does not mean they cease to exist. They can be split, created, and we have the receptors to perceive them.
Supports claim that brown needs context and cannot be a light source.
See Technology Connections' video about Brown: [this video] He says brown is perceived when you see an orange-wavelength light that is significantly darker than its surroundings, providing the necessary context for your brain to interpret it as brown.
Explains brown as dark orange light seen against brighter surroundings.
> Well no, it's turquoise, that's why we gave it a whole different word. For some people "pink" does not exist as a concept, it is "light red". In English we talk about "light blue", but an Italian may talk about azzurro ( galazio (γαλάζιο) in Greek; kachol (כחול) in Hebrew). Is azzurro its own colour different from "blue" for everyone, or only for Italians? Is "pink" a different colour than (light) red? Before the different word of "turquoise" was created, did the colour still exist and/or be perceived? * [link] If a language/culture does not have a word for "blue" does that mean the colour does not exist? * [link] * [link] Where does "white" end and "grey" begin? Where does "grey" end and "black" begin? * [link] * [link] * [link] Also, a bit of fun with brown: * [this video]
Offered as a fun extra on brown amid color naming questions.
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