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← GPUs Lesson 1 / 6

A Color Is Three Numbers

Picture three flashlights — red, green, blue — all aimed at one spot. Turn each up or down and you can mix any color. A color is just three brightness numbers, 0 to 255.

Mix the three lights

220
70
150

This is added light, not mixed paint. All three at full = white; all three at zero = a dark (off) screen.

The color

rgb(220, 70, 150) #DC4696
R
220
G
70
B
150

Each number is one byte (8 bits)

R 11011100
G 01000110
B 10010110

One dot of color = three bytes = the same on/off wires from the CPU section, now standing for how bright each light is.