A black-and-white portrait.

This article is about the term as used in media and computing; for other uses, see Black and white (disambiguation).

Black-and-white is a broad adjectival term used to describe a number of forms of visual technology. Most forms of visual technology start out in black and white, then slowly evolve into color as technology progresses. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1875x1464, 1009 KB)Source: Myself, Staxringold Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1875x1464, 1009 KB)Source: Myself, Staxringold Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1. ... It has been suggested that Portrait painting be merged into this article or section. ... Black-and-white (or black and white) can refer to a general term used in photography, film, and other media. ...

"Black-and-white" as a description is also something of a misnomer, for in addition to black and white most of these media included varying shades of grey. Further, many prints, especially those produced earlier in the development of photography, were in sepia (mainly to provide archival stability), which gave a richer, more subtle shading than reproductions in plain black-and-white, although less so than color. " In computing, a grayscale or greyscale digital image is an image in which the value of each pixel is a single sample. ... Sepia tone is a type of monochrome photographic image in which the picture appears in shades of brown as opposed to greyscale as in a black-and-white image. ...

Media

Black-and-White photos on a photo booth strip.

Some popular black-and-white media forms of the past include: Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (203x1000, 135 KB) Example of a photo booth strip. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (203x1000, 135 KB) Example of a photo booth strip. ... Photo Booth is a small software application for taking photos with an iSight camera by Apple Computer for Mac OS X. It features 17 built-in effects that can be applied to photos. ...

• Movies and animated cartoons. While some color film processes (including hand coloring) were experimented with and in limited use from the earliest days of the motion picture, the switch from films almost always being in black-and-white to almost always being in color was a gradual process mostly taking place from the 1930s to the 1950s, with higher budget pictures being in color earlier. For the years 1940–1966 a separate Academy Award for Best Art Direction was given for black and white movies, along with one for those in color. Some modern films are still done in black-and-white, though it is very rare for a major Hollywood production.
• Photography was black-and-white or shades of sepia. Color photography was originally rare and expensive, and early on often less true to life. Color photography became much more common in middle of the 20th century, and has been getting more and more common since. Black-and-white remains a niche market for photographers who use the medium for artistic purposes. This can take the form of black and white film or digital conversion to greyscale, with optional image manipulation to enhance the results. For amateur use, Kodak manufactures a black-and-white disposable camera. Special films are produced today which give black and white images using the ubiquitous C41 color process.
• Television was originally broadcast in black-and-white. Some color broadcasts began in the 1950s, with color becoming common in western industrialized nations during the 1960s and 1970s. The United States upgraded to the color standard between 1964 and 1967, while the United Kingdom settled on an official color system in November 1969. Australia kept airing black-and-white broadcasts until 1975. While no longer used much professionally, many consumer camcorders have the ability to record in black-and-white.
• Most newspapers were black-and-white until the late 1970s; The New York Times and The Washington Post remained in black-and-white until the 1990s, some claiming USA Today was the major impetus for the change. Even today, many newspapers restrict color photographs to the front and other prominent pages since mass producing photographs in black-and-white is considerably cheaper than color.
• Jet magazine was either all or mostly black-and-white until the end of the 20th century, when it became all-color.
• School yearbooks have (historically) been printed either entirely or mostly in black-and-white. All-color school yearbooks are rare as of now, but the rate is increasing.

Today black-and-white media often has a "nostalgic," historic, or anachronistic feel to it. For example, the 1998 Woody Allen film Celebrity was shot entirely in black-and-white. Other films, such as Pleasantville and The Wizard of Oz play with the concept of the black-and-white anachronism, using it to selectively portray scenes and characters who are either more outdated or dull than the characters and scenes shot in full-color. This manipulation of color appears in the film Sin City and the occasional television commercial. Film is a term that encompasses motion pictures as individual projects, as well as the field in general. ... A cartoon is any of several forms of art, with varied meanings that evolved from one to another. ... Film is a term that encompasses motion pictures as individual projects, as well as the field in general. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The 1950s was the decade spanning the years 1950 to 1959. ... The Academy Awards are the oldest awards ceremony for achievements in motion pictures. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... An undated color photograph from 1905 to 1915 by Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii Color photography was explored throughout the 1800s. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999... -1... Eastman Kodak Company (NYSE: EK) is a large multinational public company producing photographic equipment. ... Kodak Max Outdoor Camera disposible camera. ... C-41 is the name given to the process for developing a specific type of color print film used in photography and often to the type of film itself. ... Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and/or video signals (programs) to a number of recipients (listeners or viewers) that belong to a large group. ... The 1950s was the decade spanning the years 1950 to 1959. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1960 to 1969, inclusive. ... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, inclusive. ... 1964 (MCMLXIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1964 calendar). ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ... 1969 (MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1969 calendar). ... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ... Before the camcorder. ... The New York Times is a newspaper published in New York City by Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr. ... The Washington Post is the largest newspaper in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. ... See also 1990s, the band The 1990s decade refers to the years from 1990 to 1999, inclusive, sometimes informally including popular culture from the late 1980s and shortly after the year 2000. ... USA Today is a national American newspaper published by the Gannett Corporation. ... Jet magazine is a popular African-American publication founded in Chicago, Illinois in 1951 by John H. Johnson of Johnson Publishing Company. ... A yearbook, also known as an annual, is a book to record, highlight, and commemorate the past year of a school or a book published annually as a report or summary of statistics or facts. ... Look up Anachronism in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... Woody Allen (born Allen Stewart Konigsberg on December 1, 1935) is an Academy Award-winning American film director, writer, actor, musician, and comedian. ... Celebrity is a 1998 film directed by Woody Allen. ... Pleasantville DVD cover Pleasantville is a film first released in Canada on September 17, 1998 starring Tobey Maguire, Reese Witherspoon, William H. Macy, Joan Allen, and Jeff Daniels. ... The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. ... Sin City is a 2005 neo-noir anthology film based on the graphic novel series of the same name, directed by Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez and with Special Guest Director Quentin Tarantino. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ...

Since the mid-1960s, few mainstream films have been shot entirely on black-and-white film stock, even if they are intended to be presented theatrically in black-and-white. The reasons are frequently commercial, as it is difficult to sell a film for television broadcasting if no color version exists. For example, movies such as John Boorman's The General and Joel Coen's The Man Who Wasn't There were obliged to be filmed in color by their respective distributors, despite being presented in black-and-white for artistic reasons. Clerks. is one of the few well-known recent films shot in black-and-white for no artistic purpose; due to the extremely low out-of-pocket budget, the production team could not afford the added costs of shooting in color (though the difference in film stock price would be slight, the store's fluorescent lights could not be used to light for color; by shooting in black and white, the film did not have to rent lighting equipment). The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1960 to 1969, inclusive. ... Film stock is the term for photographic film on which films are recorded. ... John Boorman (born January 18, 1933 in Shepperton, Surrey, United Kingdom), is a British filmmaker, currently based in Ireland, best known for his feature films such as Point Blank, Deliverance, Excalibur, and The General. ... The General is a name which has been applied to several things: The General (The student voice of Wooster), the school newspaper of Wooster School, Danbury, CT The General, a locomotive stolen in the Great Locomotive Chase of the American Civil War The 1927 movie The General: Buster Keatons... Joel and Ethan Coen, commonly called The Coen Brothers in the film business, are United States directors best known for their quirky comedies like Fargo and Raising Arizona; the brothers write their own scripts and alternate top billing for the screenplay. ... For other uses, see The Man Who Wasnt There (disambiguation). ... A Film distributor is an independent company, a subsidiary company or occasionally an individual, which acts as the final agent between a film production company or some intermediary agent, and a film exhibitor, to the end of securing placement of the producers film on the exhibitors screen. ... Clerks. ...

Some modern film directors will occasionally shoot movies in black-and-white because they believe it captures their vision better. This is also true of black-and-white photography, where many photographers choose to shoot in solely black-and-white since the stark contrasts enhances the subject matter. The film director, on the right, gives last minute direction to the cast and crew, whilst filming a costume drama on location in London. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

See: List of recent films in black-and-white Since the mid-1960s, feature films have been filmed almost exclusively in color. ...

Computing

Most personal computers had monochrome (black-and-white, black and green, or black and amber) screens until the late 1980s, though the Apple II family of computers was an exception to this. Something which is monochromatic has a single color. ... Green is a color with many different shades, all within a wavelength of roughly 520–570 nm. ... Amber is an orange-yellow color that got its name for the material known as an amber. ... Nineteen inch (48 cm) CRT computer monitor A computer display, monitor or screen is a computer peripheral device capable of showing still or moving images generated by a computer and processed by a graphics card. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... The 1977 Apple II, complete with integrated keyboard, color graphics, sound, a plastic case and eight expansion slots. ...

In computing terminology black-and-white is often used to refer to an image consisting solely of black or white pixels; what would normally be called a black-and-white image is more accurately referred to in this context as grayscale or greyscale, ie an image containing shades of grey. Originally, the word computing was synonymous with counting and calculating, and a science and technology that deals with the original sense of computing mathematical calculations. ... This example shows an image with a portion greatly enlarged, in which the individual pixels are rendered as little squares and can easily be seen. ... In computing, a grayscale or greyscale digital image is an image in which the value of each pixel is a single sample. ...

See also

• Monochrome
• Sepia tone
• Cyanotype
• Selective color

Something which is monochromatic has a single color. ... Sepia tone is a type of monochrome photographic image in which the picture appears in shades of brown as opposed to greyscale as in a black-and-white image. ... Cyanotype is an old monochrome photographic printing process which gives a cyan-blue print. ... Selective Color is a post processing technique where most of a photo is converted to black and white, but some parts are left in color. ...

External links

• Ilford: Taking pictures in black & white - Information and tips about lighting, filters, films, and subjects.
• Converting a Color Photo Into Black and White - includes interactive photos showing how it works, a background on color filter use in traditional film photography, and a comparison of digital conversion techniques
• Digital Black & White Series - A series of tutorials covering the foundations for all available methods of converting a digital color images into black and white using Adobe Photoshop.
• LandscapePhoto.us - Shows the three main ways of converting a color photograph to black and white using Photoshop, and examines the strengths and weaknesses of each.