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Computer Color is Broken

minutephysics · explainer · Watch on YouTube

Computer graphics & renderingGraphic design & typography

What it is

MinutePhysics explains that computers store brightness nonlinearly, so blurring and blending colors in raw RGB gives wrong, dark results. It shows why mixed colors, such as in gradients, look off.

Why Hacker News recommends it

HN cites it as the accessible go-to explanation of gamma and color blending errors in image programs.

  • 4 people recommended it
  • 5 different months
  • 1 strong recommendations
  • first 2015, last 2026

What HN commenters said

  1. “I found minutephysics' treatment of this subject to be really pleasant and easy to grok.”

    Pleasant, easy-to-grasp treatment of EOTF; used in work talks.

    joedrago, 2026-06 · Strong recommendation · in “What every coder should know about Gamma Correction”

  2. “which was well explained to non-coders as well here in a quite popular MinutePhysics video”

    Well explained for non-coders in popular video.

    mxfh, 2016-09 · Recommendation · in “What every coder should know about gamma”

  3. “here's a great explanation of why gradients usually have a dark band in the middle, on the MinutePhysics channel”

    Explains why gradients have a dark band: nonlinear RGB averaging.

    quietbritishjim, 2020-02 · Recommendation · in “Brown: color is weird [video]”

  4. “A good start point is [1][2].”

    Good starting point on why image editing blends wrongly.

    fireattack, 2021-01 · Recommendation · in “Ditherpunk: The article I wish I had about monochrome image dithering”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: gamma correction, srgb, color blending, gradients, image processing

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