Moving image
Color & afterimages / 19th century
Bezold Effect
The same red changes character when surrounded by black or white.
TRY THIS
Compare the red in the two patterns while covering some of the surrounding black or white.
THE IMAGE IN THIS ARCHIVE
This vector image was created with Inkscape by Lockal, and then manually replaced.
Original file & attribution · Public domain
Original image downloaded from Wikimedia Commons; the downloaded file is unchanged. Gallery previews may be resized or converted to WebP; animated previews show the first frame.
Download imageFrequently asked questions
What is Bezold Effect?
The same red changes character when surrounded by black or white.
What should I look for in Bezold Effect?
Compare the red in the two patterns while covering some of the surrounding black or white.
What explains Bezold Effect?
The surrounding small elements influence the appearance of a repeated color. In this illustration the red regions have the same color but belong to different black-and-white arrangements.
