Brown; color is weird

Technology Connections
8 HN recommenders · recommended in 8 months, 2020–2026
YouTube
5.3M views · 6 years ago · explainer · evergreen

A Technology Connections video on the colour brown. It explains that brown is not a distinct colour of light but orange or yellow seen in context next to brighter surroundings, and what that means for how screens and RGB represent colour.

HN people recommend it as a fun, understandable demonstration of how strange colour perception is, and cite it in threads on CSS colours and colour spaces.

“I will never look at the color brown the same way again”
Color
#colorperception#brown#rgb#context#technologyconnections#colorscience

24 comments from Hacker News

a
@abracadaniel2022 · in “Google Kills YouTube Originals”
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
Strongly recommendsView on HN
m
@magicalhippo2025 · in “Is my "red" your "red"? Color similarity judgments using unsupervised alignment”
Technology Connections had a fun and informative video on the color brown[1]. [1]: ▶ this video
RecommendsView on HN
m
@maximus-decimus2024 · in “If Your World Is Not Enchanted, You're Not Paying Attention”
Or Technology Connections who made me watch a 20 minutes videos on the color brown and makes it feel like magic ▶ this video
RecommendsView on HN
l
@lutrinus2023 · in “The Weird World in RGB (2019) [video]”
Ah, Technology Connections. Such a great channel! If you enjoyed this video, make sure to also watch his video about the color brown: ▶ this video
RecommendsView on HN
s
@spiralx2021 · in “What Makes sRGB a Special Color Space?”
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 :)
RecommendsView on HN
a
@avianlyric2021 · in “Show HN: Sorted CSS Colors – Sort the named CSS colors in a nice way”
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
RecommendsView on HN
a
@avianlyric2021 · in “Show HN: Sorted CSS Colors – Sort the named CSS colors in a nice way”
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
RecommendsView on HN
j
@jasode2020 · in “Impossible Colors”
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
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p
@pmarin2020 · in “Brown: color is weird [video]”
Submitted the video to Hacker News.
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m
@mryingster2026 · in “Show HN: Simple algorithm and color space to generate diverse skin tones”
And brown is just orange... with context. ▶ this video
CitesView on HN
t
@throw0101c2026 · in “Is my blue your blue? (2024)”
> 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
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d
@drivers992026 · in “NIST scientists create 'any wavelength' lasers”
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.
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