For the final reading choose one of these:
1. Becky Koenig. Color Workbook. Chapter 6: computer color
OR
2. Bruce Fraser et al. Real World Color Management. computers and color – Pages 51-69.
Comment about one of these readings is due by 5/11.
Here’s a video by digital media artist Cory Arcangel.
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The article I read was Chapter 6: computer color – basic level. Before I start talk about the article, I found the youtube video very interesting.
Anyway, I found this article rather useful. When I started using Adobe Photoshop, I learned the program with the teacher’s help, but I found it hard to understand. However, this article is great for me because it teaches the basic aspect of digital art. For example, on page 134, it teaches how to use the computer tools for the users using digital arts. I now know the differences between the pencil tool and the pen tool. Also, I finally understand how to choose colors options and choose the color hue and value. On the page 133 to 136, it shows the aspect of the color RGB, CMYK, and HSV or HSB. My friend who is an expert at Final Cut Pro and Color Correction, the options for changing the colors on a film was either RGB or CMYK, I remember it was shown as a wheel and you can change the color from the film by moving the small dot from the wheel to change the colors from the image. Overall, this article I approve it is useful and helpful for basic digital art.
Oasis, thanks for the comment – you make nice points. Yea, the video… interesting. I am a fan of Cory Arcangel and this one seemed to fit the RGB theme – ha!
Like Oasis I found this reading very relevant to some of my other classes. For example DSGD-83. We have been learning about resolution for optimizing photos dealing with Ppi. The color sliders were another aspect that I found very familiar, and it was nice to have a refresher since learning about that stuff at the start of the semester. Colors do appear differently on the screen then they do when they are printed, and it is based of variant factors such as the printer, the ink, and the paper. As for the 3 color modes RGB, CMYK, and HSB/HSV all make up for useful, and handy tools when dealing with Photoshop or Illustrator.
Computer color– basic level:
Very informative reading. Now, I can apply what we’ve learned about color mixing to computer graphic software in the future. The only bitmap-based program I’ve ever used is paint, which is sometimes frustrating. It’s quite amazing how many colors the human eye can see.
I did the 2nd reading, which made a lot of fine distinctions: 1) We don’t measure color, we measure the stimulus that evokes the color. 2) RGB, CMYK don’t describe color, but the formulas for color 3) the same RGB, CMYK numbers will look different on different devices and different paper 4) 16.8 million colors only means that many color formulas, not that many differentiable colors.
They also discussed the physical requirements of ink which sometimes compromise its color purity: ink has to adhere to paper and other ink, dry quickly, be fade resistant, and have the right viscosity. The article also talked about the intricacies of putting ink on paper – use of halftone screens, dithering, altering either the size or density of dots, and techniques to make the pattern un-noticeable.
I really liked the part about device parameters. The article discussed white and black points as being crucial to the color system. By setting the ‘color’ of the white, we determine what our eyes perceive as white, which in turn determines how we see the other colors. Likewise, the density of black determines how bright the other colors appear. This was just like Albers for the digital world – what colors we see depends on the white and black settings. Got a little lost in the tonal curve discussion.
Liked the reading a lot – it tied together the topics of this class with DMIS83 digital studies and some of my computer systems classes, where we talked about how to program colors earlier this semester. Kind of fun to pull together three different class experiences in one reading.
Fantastic. That was a tough reading but right up your alley.
I did the reading about Computer Color, and to start it off, I found a lot of it to be fascinating. Since I was little I always saw those so and so number of colors on my computer’s display settings and now I finally have an understanding of what it exactly means, and how they generate that incredible number of colors.
I really like the explanation of the vector and bitmap programs, because it was really interesting and easy to understand. At first I was a bit confused about which one was which, but I had knew exactly what they were talking about when they gave examples of each type. This reading is very informative and easy to understand.
I never knew there was so many technical things involved in the computer monitor such as web safe color and how RGB color mode is good for digital media while CMYK is better for printed media. It’s all really interesting.
I read Becky Koenig. Color Workbook. Chapter 6: computer color – basic level. It was very informative for me; I didn’t know pixel stood for picture element =P no one ever told me. It makes sense–just thought it was another word. I am not computer savy so a lot of the information was new to me, like I didn’t know bitmap software was the name of the gradients and blending. I only recognized it when they explained the mosaic of colors that I usually associate with zooming in too much and seeing a patchwork of various colors.
Pg 134 very informative of the different types of tools and functions. This just might have been the most useful page to me. Like Oasis, I didn’t know the pen and pencil were different in computer programs.
Nurmerical percentages and sliders seems close enough that obtaining a desired color hopefully will not be too hard (especially for the artist light project). Hopefully, the reading gave me enough knowledge to do the artist research project.
Since i am a computer engineer major i decided to read about Bruce Fraser “computers and color.”
It is funny that computers in fact know nothing about color. Computers are pre-programmed with an mathematical algorithm that applies a kind of “model” that allow humans to tell computers what colors to derive. This “model” is a number system representing all the various combination of colors. Without it computers would not be able to give us the “sensation” of experiencing a color.
The part i found most intriguing was the representation of tone with 8 bits. when using 256 tone levels you eliminate banding and blotching that occurs when having 7 and 6 bits, thus having represented a perfectly smooth image sensation to the viewer. coincidentally a Byte(or a bits) is the perfect amount of memory allocation to encode tone levels for the human visual system. This 8-bit system is not only perfect for representing tone-levels, but is also perfect for the 256 letters and punctuation that we find in our western alphabet and is capable of storing those character types. Lastly, when using an 8-bit encoding with RGB images you achieve 256 tonal levels for each R, G, and B color, thus creating an incredible 16.8 million colors! just with 3 bytes of memory. Utterly mindblowing!
I can’t believe a computer can produce 16 million colors, yet still not as much as we see in real life. I didn’t realize that computers have pixels just like cameras. I saw some familiar vocabulary like LCD. I have a LCD tv at home and it was interesting reading about it. i know that they are always advancing in technology to make it better as well.
I found fasinating that a computer can produce 16 million colors; i definetly did not know that prior to the reading. I also did not know that it cannot generate all the colors that we can see.
the computer monitor screen is a grid in which each unit is a pixel. The word pixel is a combo of the words element and picture. The number of pixels is the ppi (pixels per inch). The PPI helps to determine the resolution.
The electron gun shoots electrons at each pixel in a specific order. Then each dot is illuminated off or on. In color monitors every pixel contains 3 spots of phosphor or more.
The quality of the color on the computer screen cannot be accurately portrayed on a print out due to the limitation of color on the screen.
On LCD screens the liquid crystal mixes with the light to show pictures and colors. In these screens the color limitation does not occur, so these screens produce true RGB color with more brightness and saturation.
most computers have 24-bit color/ true color.
I didn’t know that a computer could produce 16 million colors. Technology is progressing very rapidly and this number will probably increase over the next few years. The computer is an important tool for many areas of art and makes millions of jobs possible. This article explained many things that were pretty easy to understand. Also, it talked about several things that are relevant to everyday life, such as color monitors and LCD televisions. I have taken some photo classes and have had to use photo shop. This article explained some of the basic tools that are used. I knew that binary code was computer language but I didn’t know what the ones and zeros actually meant. One is a number code for on, and zero is the number code for off, very basic and easy to understand. I also liked the explanation for the color monitor; that it is basically a painting and drawing with light.
I read Becky Koenig. Color Workbook. Chapter 6: computer color – basic level. It’s really interesting to know that a computer can generate 16 million kind of hues/ pixels. I just wish it can be more accurate when you’re drawing haha I was thinking the reading would just mention the basics of color, surprisingly there’s a lot of chemistry involved. I wonder what the movie theaters use if some electronics uses CRT monitors. Call me a noob but i finally understand what LCD stand for -”liquid crystal displays.” I would never had thought of that . Also, codes are amazing but just confuses me. (good thing I’m not in programming or computer science) “Bit” is very powerful in controlling the amount of colors. At least now i now understand how to apply those terms with the selections on adobe. i could never differentiate from them and randomly start experiementing.
* cool words of the reading: pixelation, rasterizing, color gamut, low radiation emissions
*randomness: electron gun *pew pew*haha
Also, who knew they joined the word: picture + elements= to make the word/ slang “pixel.”
I did the second reading listed on the page, which was the “Computers and color- advanced technology skills.” I found this reading extremely interesting . This entire reading gave me a deep understanding of how color can be used on the computers. Various types of topics that were covered in this reading caught me with a substantial amount of interest. The “color by the numbers” provided me a true understanding how the RGB and the CMYK was first made from the “analog” before the digital era and how it could produce a color through a device. I thought that it was fascinating to hear. The RGB monitor was also very interesting because it indicated how the chemical called phosphor could reflect light from a color. I found the printer CMYK also very interesting as it could print color images. The “tone reproduction characteristics” that was mentioned towards the end of the reading was also very interesting because it discussed about how to measure the color and density. Overall, I enjoyed reading this passage. I accumulated a lot of knowledge after reading it.
When i think of color i would never have conected it to mathamatics or even computers for that matter. Just reading about how computers see colors as just files and recipies made me realize how undefined color really is. Just like a color could be different between 20 computer monitors, im sure it must be slightly different between 20 people. we try to figure out a sort of system to find perfect colors but in reality theres no formula….color on a comp show us that
I just enjoy the idea that colors are never wrong and never right. There is no correct way to see a color because its a reaction and like any reaction they can be either strong or weak reactions but it differs with every person that sees and every stituation it is viewed in weather computer monitor or even jus lying on topof another color.
I learned so much information about computer color. I initially knew that images created on the computer are called bitmap images, but I didn’t know that they can also be called vector-based. The main difference with vector-based programs is that they are based on line drawing. Within every graphic program, there is the art/paper board, the toolbox, and a variety of different colors. It was also very helpful that this reading provided computer graphics and editing tool guide that lists each tool’s function. Now I know how to enhance photos more and how to make images stand out.
This reading was pretty cool. I never knew that a computer could produce over 16 million colors. Every time I use microsoft paint, I am amazed by the vastness of the color pallet. However, I would have never guessed it could contain so many different colors. I guess computers have come along way since the old days of a simple black and orange/green screen. It was interesting to learn a bit about photo shop and how many computer artists and graphic designers use it in their everyday lives. It was cool learning about the basic tools in photoshop such as “binary code” being a computer language. I never knew how perplex an LCD was until watching the video and finding out. For one; I finally know that “LCD” stands for Liquid Crystal Display. I also found out the meaning of a “Bit’ and therefore now know why the Super Nintendo looked so much more better than the regular Nintendo with it containing twice the amount of bits at “16.”
I read computers and color – advanced technology skills, since the basic level reading was blurry. I’ve experienced lots of the info that was in the reading. Before this reading, when I changed the ink cartridges, I’ve always wondered why there is cyan and magenta instead of red and blue. And why they used K for black? It was so random, but now I know it’s because CMY subtracts from the white background and absorbs certain light. And K so that people don’t confuse it for blue or key. I’ve also thought it was weird that colors on my monitor was different from others, or why when I print out pictures, the colors always looks different. There are so many numbers and abbreviations, but I enjoyed this last reading, it was informative and interesting. It helped me understand more about technology and color ^-^
I chose the Koenig Computer Color reading. The binary system sounds very complicated, yet interesting to know, because it seems so impossible to control anything with two numbers, yet it is possible. I also feel I need a process swatch book if I am going to become a graphic designer, because the colors seen on the screen is different from the paint. I never knew seeing color consistent requires adequate and consistent lightings. Overall I liked the reading. I knew most of the graphic softwares, but was totally lost and confused once the author mentions the different colors and all that. I was confusing enough to know that they is additive and subtractive colors and RGB and CMYK, then the author brought in other stuff like HVB/HVS. Totally blew my mind away.
This reading was not that relevant to my interests as a painter. It’s more geared towards graphic designers. I wonder if printers, monitors replicate reality more truly than a human would be able to. If color is sensation created by light hitting the retina, then color has no objective reality, and can only be translated best by the observer.