
In digital photography, monochrome is the capture of only shades of black by the sensor, or by post-processing a color image to present only the perceived brightness by combining the values of multiple channels (usually red, blue, and green). Although color photography was possible even in the late 19th century, easily used color films, such as Kodachrome, were not available until the mid-1930s.
Originally, all photography was done in monochrome. In film photography, monochrome is typically the use of black-and-white film.
it may mean having only one color which is either on or off (also known as a binary image),Ī monochrome computer display is able to display only a single color, often green, amber, red or white, and often also shades of that color. In computing, monochrome has two meanings: It may also refer to sepia displaying tones from light tan to dark brown or cyanotype ("blueprint") images, and early photographic methods such as daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, and tintypes, each of which may be used to produce a monochromatic image. Of an image, the term monochrome is usually taken to mean the same as black and white or, more likely, grayscale, but may also be used to refer to other combinations containing only tones of a single color, such as green-and-white or green-and-red. In physics, monochromatic light refers to electromagnetic radiation that contains a narrow band of wavelengths, which is a distinct concept.
Images using only shades of grey are called grayscale (typically digital) or black-and-white (typically analog). A Philips branded digital audio player with a monochrome display with green backlit, common on older such devices including mobile phones and handheld game systemsĪ monochrome or monochromatic image, object or palette is composed of one color (or values of one color).