Color Perception & Optical Illusion Topic

Before I begin, let me apologize for the long length/spacing of the topic. This is on purpose.

I thought this was silly, I mean... I see gold and white of course (well, really I see gold and blue), but D sees blue with black. In the past we've had discussions about what a color is on FFXIAH concerning certain game icons, so I thought this might be a bit fun to try.

Let me know what you think. Do you see a Black/Blue dress? A Gold/White? or a Gold/Blue?


So... this is a silly thing going around the internet, and now news stations. Here is the picture:



What color is the dress?

This is the question that has made everyone stupid crazy, and fighting with each other in some cases.

Before you scroll down to the breakdown of what color the dress really is, I want you to take a good look at the above, and decide what you think. Is this a white dress with gold lace, or a blue dress with black lace? or... a blue dress with gold lace (this is what I see).




So....




The person who took this photo, also bought the dress for a wedding.



http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00SJEUCWU/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B00SJEUCWU&linkCode=as2&tag=bithedress-21&linkId=LIATY5TENJ7ORHXX

and here she is wearing it:




So, why does the photo at the wedding look different than the original photo taken that is making everyone argue whether or not the dress is white/gold, blue/gold, or blue/black?

Shadows and strong light behind it screwing with the camera. Cameras are not the same as eyes. The camera was overexposed.

What matters is whether or not you perceive the photo as overexposed in general or as having a deep shadow cast over the dress. Your brain will automatically correct for whichever one you believe, and you'll see either white/gold or blue/black.


So, what are the real colors of the photo? Is it really blue on black?

Let's pull out the RBG values...




There really isn't any black here, not a single pixel is black. The reason why some people don't see gold/white or gold/blue is because of how our brains work. Saying it again: "What matters is whether or not you perceive the photo as overexposed in general or as having a deep shadow cast over the dress. Your brain will automatically correct for whichever one you believe, and you'll see either white/gold or blue/black."

Even if you invert the photo (right side), it will not change whether you see a gold/white or black/blue dress.





Let's take the original amazon photo:



and let's replicate the overexposed shot (white dress with gold lace. Cranking up the exposure, crushing the shadows, and increased the color temp will produce this:



Now, there is no trickery here. This is a what people see the white dress with gold lace as, and I don't think anyone can argue that. Otherwise... maybe it's your monitor...



This is what people see the original photo as the blue dress with black trim.



Now, why do our eyes work like this?

It's a matter of how your mind interprets the lighting. A white-and-gold dress in cool lighting/shadow could have produced that photo, as could a black-and-blue dress in warm yellow lighting. Your mind determines the colors of the dress based on what it assumes the lighting to be like.



The left side is a blue dress with black lace, the right side is a white dress with gold lace.

Let's brake these 4 sections out and separate them a bit so our eyes can distinguish between them.

I DID NOT EDIT THE IMAGE AT ALL, EXCEPT CROPPING AND SEPARATING THE 4 SECTIONS APART. I DID NOT EDIT THE COLOR VALUES AT ALL. THE RGB VALUES BELOW EACH SECTION ARE THE REAL COLORS FOR THE STRIPES ON THE DRESS.

Closest Color Name: Gambogeish Black #282725 Closest Color Name: Moderate Phthalo Blue #424BA6

Closest Color Name: Grayish Gold #827C58 Closest Color Name: Phthalo Bluish Gray #9094B7

Closest Color Name: Dark Grayish Gold #65613C Closest Color Name: Grayish Phthalo Blue #7A80A2

Closest Color Name: Moderate gold #CEBA5B Closest Color Name: Light Spring Budish Gray #F2F5EC

The main thing to take away here are the names of the two "golds" and the two "blues". The left gold is named "Grayish Gold" while the right is "Dark Grayish Gold", and the left blue is named "Phthalo Bluish Gray", while the right is "Grayish Phthalo Blue". They are very similar to each other, which why each of us sees the dress differently.

Let me do this with the original photo as well, but this time I'll remove the background and only show the dress itself.

		Average Color Name: Dark Phthalo Bluish Gray #60616A
		Average Color Name: Dark Sapphire Bluish Gray #5F6473
		Average Color Name: Dark Sapphire Bluish Gray #4F5565
		Average Color Name: Dark Grayish Amber #5B4F34
		Average Color Name: Dark Grayish Gamboge #3C372D
		Average Color Name: Dark Sapphire Bluish Gray #585F72
		Average Color Name: Reddish Brownish Gray #524D4D

I'm sorry for the long OP, but I just thought it was pretty cool. Yea, this is all because of a bad camera shot, but this sparked a color debate war on whether it was gold/white, or black/blue, and I just think that's pretty cool how the mind works.