# Can color be determined from black and white negatives? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 2, 2020, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-color-be-determined-from-black-and-white-negatives/848766 "2020-03-02T02:06:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![QMatic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/aeb1de/32.png) [@QMatic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QMatic)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2021, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-color-be-determined-from-black-and-white-negatives/848766/41 "2021-04-10T09:50:55Z")
There are definitely chemicals in the emulsion which react to specific portions of the spectrum, that is how the film is made sensitive to colors other than blue. However, they will be dissolved away in the fixing bath during processing. ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2021, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-color-be-determined-from-black-and-white-negatives/848766/42 "2021-04-15T00:34:21Z")
To see the flaws with current AI attempts (and to reiterate that the color info isn’t magically retained in grey-scale), [this was an interesting little test](https://www.reddit.com/gallery/mqn103). ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2021, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-color-be-determined-from-black-and-white-negatives/848766/43 "2021-04-17T03:25:30Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > I’ll throw in that the Lone Ranger’s mask was purple because that produced the shade of black the directors were looking for. That original mask was featured on the Antique Roadshow. And George Reeves wore a brown cape and Superman suit on B&W television. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2021, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-color-be-determined-from-black-and-white-negatives/848766/44 "2021-04-17T10:03:38Z")
> [@DMC](#): > > to reiterate that the color info isn’t magically retained in grey-scale Another way to look at this is that monochrome photos are basically a very specific kind of lossy compression - the original colour - which is information a colour space that is best thought of as at least three dimensional - such as HSB - is compressed down into a colour space that has only one dimension. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2021, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-color-be-determined-from-black-and-white-negatives/848766/45 "2021-04-17T11:14:16Z")
> [@digs](#): > > And George Reeves wore a brown cape and Superman suit on B&W television. And the Addams Family’s living room was decorated in shades of pink. > **[The Addams Family’s Living Room Was Actually Pink!](https://www.boredpanda.com/the-addams-familys-living-room-was-actually-pink/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic)** > > Almost everybody knows the Addams family – their creepy monochrome antics are a TV classic. Which makes these pictures all the more surprising, then – they indicate that the Addams family's living room set was covered in pink, red, turquoise, and... [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-color-be-determined-from-black-and-white-negatives/848766.md?page=2)