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John Bodin Byrne Robotics Member
Purveyor of Rare Items
Joined: 16 April 2004 Location: United States Posts: 3911
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Posted: 27 February 2015 at 7:50am | IP Logged | 1
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Just wondered what you all (and hopefully JB will weigh in on this) think of the "blue and black" dress image that seems to have gone viral:
Link: http://www.wired.com/2015/02/science-one-agrees-color-dress/
Here's a pic from that article:
This has been my favorite counterpoint comment on the "controversy":
My opinion is that the whole "blue and black" thing is perhaps one of the best Internet hoaxes ever, and quite possibly yet another "social engineering" experiment by facebook to try to see if popular opinion can convince enough people that the Emperor actually HAS new clothes (or believe tha tthe dress is blue and black).
I posted this here because it reminded me of a lot of the coloring "arguments" (discussions) that have occurred here regarding things like Superman "blue" hair, Spider-Man's "blue" costume, etc.
Your thoughts?
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Matt Reed Byrne Robotics Security
Robotmod
Joined: 16 April 2004 Posts: 35945
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Posted: 27 February 2015 at 9:12am | IP Logged | 2
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It reads blue/black to me.
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Craig Markley Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004 Location: United States Posts: 3969
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Posted: 27 February 2015 at 9:26am | IP Logged | 3
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It depends on the angle one views the picture. If you see white & gold, squat down while looking at it and it will change to blue & black.
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James Woodcock Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 21 September 2007 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 7787
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Posted: 27 February 2015 at 9:28am | IP Logged | 4
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It's blue/black in the middle picture, VERY blue and black in the right hand picture and washed out blue and black in the left hand picture.
But then, the left and right are admitted to have been colour balanced so they don't count at all.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005 Posts: 133327
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Posted: 27 February 2015 at 9:43am | IP Logged | 5
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Phun with Photoshop, but nothing at all to do with the Blue/Black question that crops up round here from time to time.
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John Bodin Byrne Robotics Member
Purveyor of Rare Items
Joined: 16 April 2004 Location: United States Posts: 3911
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Posted: 27 February 2015 at 9:47am | IP Logged | 6
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True JB -- the "source" of the blue "mistake" is completely different than the Blue/Black question that crops up here, but I think there are similar shading-related misconceptions in play.
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Steve De Young Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 01 April 2008 Location: United States Posts: 3508
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Posted: 27 February 2015 at 10:34am | IP Logged | 7
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It's not a hoax. The dress, which in reality is blue and black, looks blue and black to me in the picture, but my wife thinks I'm absolutely insane and that it's white and gold. The initial poster thinks the same apparently.
Scientifically, it's because the background in the picture plays with the day/night perceptions we all evolved which effect how our brains interpret color. It's sort of a lucky photo that way that brings to the fore the subtlety of that mechanism in our brains.
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Ed Love Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 05 October 2004 Location: United States Posts: 2712
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Posted: 27 February 2015 at 10:50am | IP Logged | 8
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It's white and gold. The picture is extremely back lit putting the foreground figure in shade (you can tell this because the people in the background are being blown out by the light). This means the foreground figure appears darker than it would naturally lit not lighter.That light blue-gray shade of the dress is exactly what one would expect from a white or near white dress in such a situation.
The two manipulations are actually balancing different areas of the photograph. The one that makes it clearly white/gold is balancing for the foreground information, thus the background is getting more blown out. The one that makes it blue/black, is increasing the range of tones in the background, basically casting the foreground image even further into shadow (notice how much midtone and dark range values are lost as they go completely black). If you are trying to figure out which is the more natural color of the dress, it's the one that is clearly adjusting for the foreground lighting condition.
Something much harder, adjusting flourescent light lit photographs of men in dark gray, blue, black and brown suits. Back when Bill Clinton ran the first time, the photos for the debates were headaches and could never be sure what color the suits were since the lighting made them all dark green or muddy brown. Clinton's presence in such photographs was also problematic as balancing the color of everything else yet I was always left with a very red faced Clinton with greenish hair.
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John Popa Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 20 March 2008 Posts: 4467
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Posted: 27 February 2015 at 10:52am | IP Logged | 9
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Looks blue and black to me. If I look from a different angle, though, it does turn to gold and white.
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Michael Roberts Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 20 April 2004 Location: United States Posts: 14857
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Posted: 27 February 2015 at 12:15pm | IP Logged | 10
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John Bodin, you should have just posted the original picture. Showing the one with the photo manipulation sort of wrecks the illusion going on and confuses the debate.
Last night I saw the dress as white and gold and thought the people seeing blue and black were insane. I looked at it again early this morning, with the background covered up with my fingers, and the dress shifted to blue and black. Now I can't unsee it.
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Marc Foxx Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004 Location: United States Posts: 5584
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Posted: 27 February 2015 at 12:32pm | IP Logged | 11
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A friend of mine posted this on Facebook:
Europe: How do we fix the economy? Middle East: How do we stop ISIS? United States: What color is the dress?
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Peter Martin Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 17 March 2008 Location: Canada Posts: 15953
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Posted: 27 February 2015 at 12:58pm | IP Logged | 12
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The squat down thing really works! Thanks Craig Malarkey!
I could only see white/gold before that.
Curious...
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