Cascadia Saint Posted 27 February, 2015 Share Posted 27 February, 2015 (edited) This bugged me last night when the wife showed me last night, so I did some forensic photo CSI in Lightroom and solved it... I thought it was white and gold at first - the photo looks like it's taken outside and the dress is in the shade... I assumed the camera was white balancing for the sunlight making the colour temperature of the dress 'colder' and appearing more of a blue shade of white. It turns out I was giving the godawful camera sensor far too much credit. I looked at it on the computer and realised that that it is actually taken inside a shop of some kind. So that golden 'sunlight' is actually mostly fluorescent indoor light, which is a lot 'colder' - so I decreased the colour temperature until it matched what the inside of a department store usually looks like. It's also massively over exposed, and once you bring it down and recover some of the detail in the highlights, you can start to see how the dress is black and blue. The 'gold' is what happens when the worst camera in the world takes the worst photo in the world of something black. It's so massively over exposed and way too warm that it no longer looks like black. Just a sad noisy mess. Turn your SLR up to it's highest ISO setting and take a picture in a dark room, add in the wrong white balance and your blacks won't look black. The 'noise' is so crazy and the pixels are so colourised that the warm color temp makes it look 'gold'. Once you do some noise reduction they look a bit more... Black. So, in summary. This picture is the result of a horrible camera committing a crime against photography. Most people who think the dress is white and gold are compensating for the fact that the light in the background looks like sunlight and the dress looks like it's in the shade. That's what my eyes assumed at first. The freaky weirdos who see it as blue and black are somehow able to bypass what the evil camera did to the image and are immune to the colour temperature of light. I can see that a camera absolutely trashed the black, but how the hell do you guys actually see it as black??? I'm glad I'm not you or I would have to find a different job.... This was just a quick 2 minute recovery job in Lightroom, but i'm betting the real dress looks a lot like this. Edited 27 February, 2015 by Cascadia Saint Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unbelievable Jeff Posted 27 February, 2015 Share Posted 27 February, 2015 So apparently the dress is actually blue and black. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iansums Posted 27 February, 2015 Share Posted 27 February, 2015 Amazing. I see it as gold and white, the wife and daughter see blue and black. I've never heard of anything like this before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iansums Posted 27 February, 2015 Share Posted 27 February, 2015 With Cascadia's photo I still see white and gold but as I scroll down the bottom of the dress turns blue and black. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CB Fry Posted 27 February, 2015 Share Posted 27 February, 2015 So apparently the dress is actually blue and black. They showed it on C4 news. It is unbelievably (to me) Blue and Black. Darker than an Inter Milan kit. Really blue, really black. All the images on this thread I see as White/Gold. Just nuts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unbelievable Jeff Posted 27 February, 2015 Share Posted 27 February, 2015 They showed it on C4 news. It is unbelievably (to me) Blue and Black. Darker than an Inter Milan kit. Really blue, really black. All the images on this thread I see as White/Gold. Just nuts. You're one of the white/gold mentalists? Can't trust anything you say now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Bateman Posted 27 February, 2015 Share Posted 27 February, 2015 I saw it on here as white and gold, it came up on the news as blue and black, I checked back on here and it's now blue and black. F**k this science, I have the answer, it's to do with how much you've had to drink. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wes Tender Posted 27 February, 2015 Share Posted 27 February, 2015 If it wasn't April the first, I'd suspect a massive spoof and that all the people who claim that they see it as white and gold are just pretending to see that, to kid those who see the colours for what they truly are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlakeySFC Posted 27 February, 2015 Share Posted 27 February, 2015 Black, everything is black, Black. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smirking_Saint Posted 28 February, 2015 Share Posted 28 February, 2015 Doing the rounds on the Internet at the moment. Apparently, people see different colours. It's blue and brown for me. Posted in the Lounge as there is a scientific explanation, apparently I see it white n gold, baffled you see it different Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smirking_Saint Posted 28 February, 2015 Share Posted 28 February, 2015 I see it white n gold, baffled you see it different Now Im seeing it as blue n black Thats f'n weird Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wurzel Posted 28 February, 2015 Share Posted 28 February, 2015 This bugged me last night when the wife showed me last night, so I did some forensic photo CSI in Lightroom and solved it... I thought it was white and gold at first - the photo looks like it's taken outside and the dress is in the shade... I assumed the camera was white balancing for the sunlight making the colour temperature of the dress 'colder' and appearing more of a blue shade of white. It turns out I was giving the godawful camera sensor far too much credit. I looked at it on the computer and realised that that it is actually taken inside a shop of some kind. So that golden 'sunlight' is actually mostly fluorescent indoor light, which is a lot 'colder' - so I decreased the colour temperature until it matched what the inside of a department store usually looks like. It's also massively over exposed, and once you bring it down and recover some of the detail in the highlights, you can start to see how the dress is black and blue. The 'gold' is what happens when the worst camera in the world takes the worst photo in the world of something black. It's so massively over exposed and way too warm that it no longer looks like black. Just a sad noisy mess. Turn your SLR up to it's highest ISO setting and take a picture in a dark room, add in the wrong white balance and your blacks won't look black. The 'noise' is so crazy and the pixels are so colourised that the warm color temp makes it look 'gold'. Once you do some noise reduction they look a bit more... Black. So, in summary. This picture is the result of a horrible camera committing a crime against photography. Most people who think the dress is white and gold are compensating for the fact that the light in the background looks like sunlight and the dress looks like it's in the shade. That's what my eyes assumed at first. The freaky weirdos who see it as blue and black are somehow able to bypass what the evil camera did to the image and are immune to the colour temperature of light. I can see that a camera absolutely trashed the black, but how the hell do you guys actually see it as black??? I'm glad I'm not you or I would have to find a different job.... This was just a quick 2 minute recovery job in Lightroom, but i'm betting the real dress looks a lot like this. Good comparison pics. I (I see white and gold) also fiddled with contrast and brightness settings yesterday and eventually came up with an even deeper blue and black dress that I could see. I can also see the (paler) blue and black version in your adjusted pic. It's clear that it's a very poorly exposed picture but still doesn't explain why different people see that same photo differently. Surely we should all see the poorly exposed one. There's some logic in your compensation for the bright light on the top right theory except there seems little difference in that area on both of your pics. I've often wondered how we know that someone else is colour blind. How do we know who see the colours "correctly". As for dogs only see in b&w, how do we know? (or has QI debunked that one?) Still baffled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plastic Posted 28 February, 2015 Share Posted 28 February, 2015 I was convinced white & gold at first. Then it suddenly changed to blue & black. Thought the pic had been changed. Now when I look at it, it starts as white and gold, and slowly before my eyes transforms to blue & black. It's firkin weird and gives me a headache Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plastic Posted 28 February, 2015 Share Posted 28 February, 2015 (edited) Most people who think the dress is white and gold are compensating for the fact that the light in the background looks like sunlight and the dress looks like it's in the shade. That's what my eyes assumed at first. An excellent informative post. I noticed that if I look at the image and it appears white/gold, focusing on the 'sunlight' (as I originally assumed) over the shoulder of the dress causes the white to transform into blue before my eyes. My guess is that my fooled brain is gradually adjusting to the fact that it is looking at fluorescent light, rather than sunlight. Edited 28 February, 2015 by Plastic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitey Grandad Posted 28 February, 2015 Share Posted 28 February, 2015 For me, it never changes. Some pictures show white and gold and some blue and black, but that is just the photo and not the dress. I can see how colour correction can change its appearance but not how it can change whilst you're looking at it. I've spent enough time adjusting the colour balance on TV cameras and playing with Photoshop to know what can be achieved but for me any individual photo is only ever one thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitey Grandad Posted 28 February, 2015 Share Posted 28 February, 2015 (edited) Some more colour illusions on here: http://brainden.com/color-illusions.htm And here: http://www.echalk.co.uk/amusements/OpticalIllusions/colourPerception/colourPerception.html Edited 28 February, 2015 by Whitey Grandad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNSUN Posted 28 February, 2015 Share Posted 28 February, 2015 It's black and blue, but I see white and gold. However as someone said on Facebook, if you look at the white and gold picture on a screen like an iPad or phone, and tilt the device as if you're looking "up" the picture from the bottom, if does appear blue and black. Brains are weird. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plastic Posted 28 February, 2015 Share Posted 28 February, 2015 I can see how colour correction can change its appearance but not how it can change whilst you're looking at I can't explain it I'm afraid, colour just seems to seep into the White. It's like if I have been laying in the sun with my eyes closed for a few minutes. Sit up and look around and everything has a greenish bluish tint, which fades as my eyes adjust back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sadoldgit Posted 28 February, 2015 Share Posted 28 February, 2015 For me, it never changes. Some pictures show white and gold and some blue and black, but that is just the photo and not the dress. I can see how colour correction can change its appearance but not how it can change whilst you're looking at it. I've spent enough time adjusting the colour balance on TV cameras and playing with Photoshop to know what can be achieved but for me any individual photo is only ever one thing. They showed it on the One Show last night and from the picture I saw white and gold and Mrs SOG saw blue and black. The presenter wore the dress and it looked blue and black to both of us. Spooky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitey Grandad Posted 28 February, 2015 Share Posted 28 February, 2015 (edited) I can't explain it I'm afraid, colour just seems to seep into the White. It's like if I have been laying in the sun with my eyes closed for a few minutes. Sit up and look around and everything has a greenish bluish tint, which fades as my eyes adjust back. Nope, only ever white and gold on my iPad 2 no matter how I look at it. I've just examined the pixels with a magnifier and it's definitely not blue and black. If you have a colour tint after looking at it then I suspect you gave very low ambient lighting. What you describe is an afterimage. Edited 28 February, 2015 by Whitey Grandad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint_Tony Posted 28 February, 2015 Share Posted 28 February, 2015 I was convinced white & gold at first. Then it suddenly changed to blue & black. Thought the pic had been changed. Now when I look at it, it starts as white and gold, and slowly before my eyes transforms to blue & black. It's firkin weird and gives me a headache I saw it the same, very odd. Once it changed to black and blue I can't see it as white and gold anymore Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plastic Posted 28 February, 2015 Share Posted 28 February, 2015 Hope, only ever white and gold on my iPad 2 no matter how I look at it. I've just examined the pixels with a magnifier and it's definitely not blue and black. If you have a colour tint after looking at it then I suspect you gave very low ambient lighting. What you describe is an afterimage. Yes I know it's not the same scenario, just trying to explain the experience of the colour fading in. Most people seem to see it as blue black, or on later viewing it changes to blue black judging from Twitter / Facebook. When I first saw it change I was looking at the image on my iPhone, and I thought it was a joke that anyone saw blue / black. Browsed around a bit, came back and it had changed. No change in ambient lighting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shirleysfc Posted 28 February, 2015 Share Posted 28 February, 2015 In the picture it always looks white and gold to me, on the news I saw blue and black. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killers Knee Posted 28 February, 2015 Share Posted 28 February, 2015 On my phone, blue & black, on my laptop, same, tilt monitor and its white and gold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SW5 SAINT Posted 2 March, 2015 Share Posted 2 March, 2015 White & gold all day long... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bridge too far Posted 2 March, 2015 Share Posted 2 March, 2015 http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/science-technology/colour-of-dress-depends-on-whether-you-are-secretly-racist-2015030295846 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unbelievable Jeff Posted 2 March, 2015 Share Posted 2 March, 2015 http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/science-technology/colour-of-dress-depends-on-whether-you-are-secretly-racist-2015030295846 Sounds wholly plausible to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Who? Posted 2 March, 2015 Share Posted 2 March, 2015 When I wear my glasses for any length of time, it is white and gold. All the other times it is blue and brown colour. I only wear my glasses when in front of the computer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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