Semple Sells 'Pinkest Pink' to Defy Kapoor Over Vantablack Ban

Tom Scott

Standard 8-bit RGB consumer displays cannot render Stuart Semple's pigment because its saturation exceeds the luminescent limits of digital subpixels.

AI-assisted summary of I can't show you how pink this pink is. — original source. Check the original for full context.

Source published: 2017-07-18

Key ideas

Artist Stuart Semple created 'The Pinkest Pink,' an ultra-saturated pigment that standard digital cameras and RGB displays physically cannot capture or render accurately. (0:00)
The pigment was released in protest of Surrey NanoSystems licensing exclusive artistic rights for Vantablack to sculptor Anish Kapoor, legally barring Kapoor from purchasing Semple's pigment. (0:25)
After Kapoor bypassed the restriction and posted an Instagram image dipping his middle finger into the powder, viral global demand forced Semple's studio into four straight weeks of nonstop paint production. (1:00)
Consumer screens are constrained by standard 8-bit RGB color channels (16.7 million colors capped between values 0 and 255), creating a hard gamut ceiling that clips hyper-saturated real-world pigments. (1:32)

Detailed notes

## Background Published on YouTube by Tom Scott on July 18, 2017, this video explores why digital video is fundamentally incapable of showing Stuart Semple's ultra-saturated pigment, "The Pinkest Pink." In the video description, Scott explains that while he can show bright and saturated shades, screens cannot truly display this particular pink, noting that viewer traffic overloaded Semple's website and that Anish Kapoor's studio did not respond to requests for comment.

## TL;DR Tom Scott visits artist Stuart Semple's studio to examine "The Pinkest Pink," an ultra-saturated pigment developed in retaliation after sculptor Anish Kapoor secured exclusive artistic rights to the ultra-dark material Vantablack. Semple made his pigment available to everyone except Kapoor—a restriction Kapoor deliberately breached online, setting off massive viral demand. Scott breaks down the technical reasons modern displays cannot reproduce the shade, explaining how standard 8-bit RGB color gamuts cap values between 0 and 255 and clip extreme real-world wavelengths. Because ordinary monitors cannot match the pigment's intensity, Scott demonstrates its vividness through relative saturation jumps and hands-on mixing in the studio.

## Atmosphere & style The video carries an energetic, playful, and intellectually curious vibe that seamlessly bridges art-world drama with display physics. Scott's classic fast-paced, expository style pairs naturally with Semple's warm, cheeky storytelling about his petty feud with Kapoor. Watching it feels delightfully paradoxical and hands-on, building from an abstract technical explanation into a tactile moment of genuine wonder as Scott watches the pigment transform before his eyes.

## Bulletin - [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NzVmtbPOrM&t=0s) Artist Stuart Semple created 'The Pinkest Pink,' an ultra-saturated pigment that standard digital cameras and RGB displays physically cannot capture or render accurately. - [00:25](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NzVmtbPOrM&t=25s) The pigment was released in protest of Surrey NanoSystems licensing exclusive artistic rights for Vantablack to sculptor Anish Kapoor, legally barring Kapoor from purchasing Semple's pigment. - [01:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NzVmtbPOrM&t=60s) After Kapoor bypassed the restriction and posted an Instagram image dipping his middle finger into the powder, viral global demand forced Semple's studio into four straight weeks of nonstop paint production. - [01:32](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NzVmtbPOrM&t=92s) Consumer screens are constrained by standard 8-bit RGB color channels (16.7 million colors capped between values 0 and 255), creating a hard gamut ceiling that clips hyper-saturated real-world pigments.

## Key takeaways - [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NzVmtbPOrM&t=0s) Stuart Semple formulated 'The Pinkest Pink,' a pigment so intense that digital cameras cannot capture it, YouTube cannot store it, and computer monitors cannot display it. - [00:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NzVmtbPOrM&t=15s) Alongside the pink pigment, Semple has engineered a line of extreme art materials, including the greenest green, loveliest blue, yellowest yellow, ultra-glittery natural glitter, and an ultra-matte black. - [00:25](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NzVmtbPOrM&t=25s) The initiative originated as retaliation after Surrey NanoSystems granted sculptor Anish Kapoor exclusive artistic rights to Vantablack, preventing all other artists from using it. - [00:45](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NzVmtbPOrM&t=45s) To order The Pinkest Pink, buyers are legally required to sign a disclaimer confirming that they are not Anish Kapoor and have no affiliation with him. - [00:55](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NzVmtbPOrM&t=55s) Kapoor circumvented the terms, acquired a jar, and posted a photo on Instagram showing his middle finger dipped into the powder. - [01:05](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NzVmtbPOrM&t=65s) The resulting viral attention generated thousands of orders, forcing Semple's studio to spend four continuous weeks mixing pink paint to meet demand. - [01:32](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NzVmtbPOrM&t=92s) Standard digital video relies on an 8-bit RGB gamut with 256 gradations per channel (0–255), producing around 16.7 million total displayable color combinations. - [01:55](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NzVmtbPOrM&t=115s) Digital displays have strict physical limits: subpixels cannot fall below 0 (no darker than off) or rise above 255 (maximum luminescence), bounding both extreme contrast and extreme color saturation. - [02:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NzVmtbPOrM&t=135s) Extreme real-world colors lie outside the standard RGB gamut because standard monitor subpixels physically cannot illuminate with sufficient red, green, or blue intensity. - [02:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NzVmtbPOrM&t=150s) Developing extreme art materials requires precise balancing of raw pigments and binders, building upon a historical palette spanning synthetic chemistry to materials like mummy brown. - [03:03](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NzVmtbPOrM&t=183s) Because the color cannot be rendered directly, Tom Scott illustrates the jump in intensity by temporarily desaturating the video feed and snapping it back to highlight how much further the pigment goes. - [03:25](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NzVmtbPOrM&t=205s) While dry pigment can initially appear like ordinary powder in a container, mixing it with an art medium unlocks an intense, luminous quality that cannot be replicated on screen.

## Detailed walkthrough ### [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NzVmtbPOrM&t=0s) The Pinkest Pink and the Anish Kapoor Feud

Tom Scott visits the studio of artist Stuart Semple, holding up a pigment so intense that digital technology fails to capture it. As Tom bluntly tells the audience: “This camera can't capture it, YouTube can't store it, and your screen can't display it.” Stuart Semple explains that he has been painting since he was five years old and has encountered endless shades of pink, but after thousands of people used his creation, nobody could point to a pinker version. Beyond his "Pinkest Pink," Semple has developed a full lineup of hyper-saturated art materials: the greenest green, the loveliest blue, the yellowest yellow, the world's most glittery natural glitter, and the flattest, blackest matte art material in existence.

```mermaid flowchart TD accTitle: The Pinkest Pink Feud Flow accDescr: Diagram illustrating the origin of the Pinkest Pink feud between Surrey NanoSystems, Anish Kapoor, and Stuart Semple.

subgraph Vantablack["Vantablack Dispute"] A["Surrey NanoSystems invents Vantablack"] --> B["Exclusive artistic rights licensed to Anish Kapoor"] B --> C["Art community and Stuart Semple outraged"] end

subgraph Retaliation["Semple's Retaliation"] C --> D["Semple releases 'Pinkest Pink' to the public"] D --> E["Legal disclaimer: Buyer cannot be Anish Kapoor"] end

subgraph Escalation["The Instagram Incident"] E --> F["Kapoor acquires pigment and posts middle finger on Instagram"] F --> G["Global viral demand causes 4-week non-stop production surge"] end ```

The motivation behind releasing this pigment stemmed from deep frustration in the artistic community roughly a year and a half earlier. A company called Surrey NanoSystems had developed Vantablack—a revolutionary material that absorbed virtually all light, creating a blacker-than-black effect. However, they granted exclusive artistic usage rights to sculptor Anish Kapoor, barring every other artist on Earth from working with it. Annoyed by this gatekeeping, Semple retaliated by making his Pinkest Pink available to everyone—with one strict caveat. Anyone purchasing it had to legally sign a disclaimer certifying that they were not Anish Kapoor and had no association with him. While the joke delighted the art world and orders poured in, Kapoor ultimately managed to obtain a jar anyway. He promptly posted an image on Instagram dipping his middle finger into the powder. Reflecting on the aftermath, Stuart Semple said: “It was sort of great and sort of really frustrating when he did that, because all of a sudden we were getting thousands and thousands of orders, we ended up staying up for about four weeks making pink paint and nothing else could happen and it just took over our whole life.”

- **Surrey NanoSystems** sparked the feud by licensing artistic rights to Vantablack exclusively to sculptor **Anish Kapoor**. - Semple countered by releasing **The Pinkest Pink** alongside other extremes: greenest green, loveliest blue, yellowest yellow, natural glitter, and ultra-matte black. - The online storefront legally barred Kapoor from purchasing the pigment, a restriction Kapoor deliberately breached for an Instagram photo.

---

[01:32](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NzVmtbPOrM&t=92s) The Limits of RGB, Digital Gamuts, and Mixing Pigments

The reason the pigment cannot be perceived through a video comes down to the fundamental physics of consumer screens. While computers have elaborate methods for processing color, consumer video fundamentally breaks down into RGB values: three numbers dictating the brightness of the red, green, and blue subpixels on a panel. In standard 8-bit color channels, those numbers range from 0 to 255 (representing eight binary ones). A value of 0 means the subpixel is switched off entirely, while 255 drives it to its maximum luminescence, allowing roughly 16.7 million total displayable color combinations.

Yet, 16 million colors does not cover the spectrum of human vision or real-world physics. Tom illustrates this ceiling with extreme examples: pointing a camera directly at the sun cannot blind a viewer, because the digital signal caps out at 255 (100% brightness); conversely, pointing a lens into absolute darkness cannot drop below 0 to make the display darker than when turned off. In the exact same manner, colors exist that are far too saturated for the subpixels of ordinary monitors to render—they simply cannot glow intensely enough. As Tom explains: “In the same way, there are colours that are so intense your screen can't display them, the pixels cannot go red, green or blue enough.”

```mermaid flowchart LR accTitle: Digital Color Range vs Real-World Pigment accDescr: Comparison of 8-bit digital color display bounds against real-world light and pigment intensity.

subgraph DigitalScale["Standard 8-Bit Display (0 to 255)"] direction TB Min["0 / Off: Floor cannot get darker"] Mid["~16 Million Renderable Combinations"] Max["255 / 100%: Ceiling cannot get brighter"] Min --- Mid --- Max end

subgraph RealWorld["Real-World Extremes"] direction TB Dark["True Black / Deep Shadows"] Color["The Pinkest Pink Pigment"] Sun["The Sun / Extreme Light"] end

RealWorld -.->|"Exceeds digital gamut"| DigitalScale ```

To engineer pigments that push beyond ordinary physical constraints, artists draw upon vast historical databases. Semple notes that humans have unearthed and manufactured color agents "since day dot," ranging from synthetic chemicals to macabre natural sources like "mummy brown" (historically derived from ground-up human mummies). Achieving the Pinkest Pink was not an accident; it required balancing complex relationships between raw pigments and binders, adjusting ratios until the mixture yielded maximum brilliance. Semple describes the final result as “quite a complicated little potion, actually.”

- Standard consumer screens use an **8-bit per channel RGB gamut** ($256^3 \approx 16.7\text{ million}$ colors). - A screen's brightness range is strictly bounded: it cannot drop below value 0 or exceed value 255. - Historical pigments include sources like **mummy brown**, which was produced from ground mummified remains. - Newer, high-end production displays feature wider color gamuts capable of rendering closer approximations of these wavelengths, though most current screens clip them.

---

[03:03](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NzVmtbPOrM&t=183s) Simulating the Impossible Shade

Because technology cannot faithfully reproduce the color, Tom attempts to give the audience a relative impression of its vibrancy. By altering the footage, he temporarily dials down the digital saturation of the powder, showing a pale, flat pink on screen. He then snaps the saturation back up to normal video levels, asking the audience to extrapolate that jump: “Imagine that change, but more so. That's how pink this pink is. It is ridiculously pink.”

In an off-camera moment playing with the physical powder inside Semple's studio, Tom reacts with genuine amazement as the material interacts with medium and light. He admits that when looking at the dry powder in the jar, he was skeptical: “I started out, like, 'well, this isn't doing anything, this is just powder' and then it just goes!” He concludes by admiring how shockingly luminous and vivid the pigment appears in person, something no modern monitor can accurately transmit.

## Notable quotes > [01:32](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NzVmtbPOrM&t=92s) there are colours that are so intense your screen can't display them, the pixels cannot go red, green or blue enough. — Tom Scott

## Mentioned Tom Scott, Stuart Semple, Anish Kapoor, Surrey NanoSystems, Vantablack, Pinkest Pink, YouTube, Instagram, Culture Hustle, Michelle Martin, mummy brown

## Video description I can show a brighter pink. I can show a more saturated pink. But I can't show you this pink. Not quite. More about Stuart Semple and his pigments: https://www.culturehustle.com/ [that's his store, we overloaded Stuart's personal web site, http://www.stuartsemple.com, within a few minutes...!]

(I reached out to Anish Kapoor's studio twice for comment; I didn't get any response.)

Edited by Michelle Martin https://www.youtube.com/@OnTheCrux

🟥 MORE FROM TOM: https://www.tomscott.com/ (you can find contact details and social links there too) ❓ LATERAL, free weekly podcast: https://lateralcast.com/ https://youtube.com/lateralcast/ ➕ TOM SCOTT PLUS: https://youtube.com/tomscottplus 👥 THE TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES: https://youtube.com/techdif

[Source](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NzVmtbPOrM)

中文简报

塞普尔发售“最粉的粉红” 抗议卡普尔独占梵塔黑由于饱和度超出数字子像素的发光极限，标准8位RGB消费级显示器无法渲染斯图尔特·塞普尔的这种颜料。汤姆·斯科特走访了艺术家斯图尔特·塞普尔的工作室，探访其研发的超饱和颜料“最粉的粉红”。此前雕塑家阿尼什·卡普尔获得了超黑材料梵塔黑的独家艺术使用权，塞普尔研发该颜料正是为了对此展开反击。塞普尔将这种颜料提供给除卡普尔以外的所有人，而卡普尔在网络上故意违反了这一禁令，引发了全球范围内的病毒式抢购。斯科特剖析了现代显示器无法还原该颜色的技术原因，解释了标准8位RGB色域如何将色彩值限制在0至255之间，从而截断了现实世界中的极端波长。由于普通显示器无法呈现这种颜料的强烈色感，斯科特在工作室通过相对饱和度对比和现场调色展示了其鲜艳程度。艺术家斯图尔特·塞普尔研发出“最粉的粉红”，这是一种标准数码相机和RGB显示器在物理上无法准确捕捉或渲染的超饱和颜料。 (0:00) 该颜料的推出旨在抗议萨里纳米系统公司将梵塔黑的独家艺术使用权授予雕塑家阿尼什·卡普尔，塞普尔在法律层面严禁卡普尔购买该颜料。 (0:25) 在卡普尔无视限制并在Instagram上晒出自己将中指浸入粉末的照片后，网络疯传引发的全球需求迫使塞普尔的工作室连续四周不间断生产颜料。 (1:00) 消费级屏幕受限于标准8位RGB色彩通道（数值限制在0到255之间，仅能呈现1670万色），形成了硬性色域上限，会直接截断现实世界中的超饱和颜料色彩。 (1:32)

Detailed notes — zh

## Background 该视频由科普创作者 Tom Scott 于 2017 年 7 月 18 日发布在 YouTube 平台上。视频简介指出，无论画面如何调亮或增加饱和度，观众在普通屏幕前都无法真正看到这款粉色的本来面目，并附上了英国艺术家斯图尔特·森普尔（Stuart Semple）的颜料网店链接以及向阿尼什·卡普尔（Anish Kapoor）工作室求证未果的说明。 ## TL;DR 视频探访了英国艺术家 Stuart Semple 的工作室，揭示了他为反击雕塑家 Anish Kapoor 垄断超黑材料 Vantablack 而研制出“最粉的粉色”（Pinkest Pink）以及随之引发的艺术圈网络风波。Tom Scott 深入剖析了为何计算机与普通显示设备的 8 位 RGB 色彩空间（0-255 数值极限）在物理和数字层面上根本无法呈现这种突破色域的高饱和度粉色。最后，视频通过介绍历史颜料调制背景与独特的对比演示手法，向观众生动传达了现实中该颜料令人惊叹的荧光视觉震撼。 ## Atmosphere & style 整部短片节奏明快且极具趣味性，融合了艺术界八卦反抗的幽默荒诞感与扎实的计算机色彩科学解析。Tom Scott 带着标志性的好奇与敏锐，在现场亲手涂抹颜料时流露出直观而真切的惊叹，与艺术家轻松诙谐的调侃形成了生动互动。观众在观看过程中不仅能体会到技术局限带来的好奇与心痒，更能透过屏幕感受到一种直观颠覆视觉认知的奇妙冲击。 ## Bulletin - [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NzVmtbPOrM&t=0s) 艺术家斯图尔特·森普尔研发出号称世界上“最粉的粉色”（Pinkest Pink），以此抗议阿尼什·卡普尔对吸光材料 Vantablack 艺术使用权的排他性垄断。 - [00:45](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NzVmtbPOrM&t=45s) 森普尔在销售该粉色颜料时特意加入排他条款，禁止卡普尔及其关联人士购买，但卡普尔随后在社交平台上发布沾满粉末的中指照片公开挑衅，反而引爆了全球订单潮。 - [01:32](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NzVmtbPOrM&t=92s) 消费级显示设备受限于 8 位 RGB 编码（每通道 0-255，约 1677 万色），根本无法发出足够纯粹且超出 100% 亮度的光线，因此无法在屏幕上完整还原该颜料的真实色域与荧光感。 - [02:35](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NzVmtbPOrM&t=155s) “最粉的粉色”并非单一色素，而是精密调配的不同颜料微粒与结合剂（Binders）复合物，其视觉荧光效果在被涂抹开时尤为强烈。 ## Key takeaways - [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NzVmtbPOrM&t=0s) 受限于摄像机传感器、YouTube 编码和消费级显示器的色域限制，观众在屏幕前无法看到“最粉的粉色”的物理真实面貌。 - [00:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NzVmtbPOrM&t=30s) 森普尔研制该粉色是为了反击萨里纳米系统将 Vantablack 的艺术排他使用权单独授权给阿尼什·卡普尔的垄断行为。 - [00:45](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NzVmtbPOrM&t=45s) 购买“Pinkest Pink”时必须签署法律免责声明，证明购买者并非阿尼什·卡普尔本人，也不存在任何代理关系。 - [01:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NzVmtbPOrM&t=60s) 卡普尔通过 Instagram 发布竖中指沾满粉色粉末的照片进行挑衅，该举动直接导致森普尔工作室订单暴增并连续熬夜赶工四周。 - [00:20](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NzVmtbPOrM&t=20s) 森普尔的工作室不仅研发了极粉的粉色，还打造了极绿的绿色、极黄的黄色、闪亮天然闪粉以及超哑光极黑颜料。 - [01:32](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NzVmtbPOrM&t=92s) 传统消费级显示硬件基于 8 位 RGB 通道（数值范围 0-255）构建，最多呈现约 1677 万种颜色，无法突破硬件本身的亮度和色域极限。 - [01:55](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NzVmtbPOrM&t=115s) 屏幕无法像现实拍摄太阳那样发出超过 100% 的光，同理也无法显示超出 RGB 色域边界的极端饱和色彩。 - [02:35](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NzVmtbPOrM&t=155s) 人类颜料制作历史涵盖了矿物、有机物和合成物，历史上甚至出现过用尸体研磨制成的“木乃伊棕”（Mummy brown）。 - [02:55](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NzVmtbPOrM&t=175s) “最粉的粉色”需要微调颜料分子与结合剂之间的精密配比，森普尔将其比作一剂调配复杂的“神秘药水”。 - [03:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NzVmtbPOrM&t=195s) 为了克服屏幕显示瓶颈，视频通过故意削低饱和度再拉升至上限的对比手法，帮助观众利用心理反差脑补现实中极度鲜艳的荧光效果。 - [03:35](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NzVmtbPOrM&t=215s) 虽然粉末外观看似普通，但实际涂抹开后所展现的惊人发光度与荧光感令现场体验者极为震撼。 ## Detailed walkthrough ### [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NzVmtbPOrM&t=0s) “最粉的粉色”与阿尼什·卡普尔的独占风波视频开篇，Tom Scott 就直接对观众指出一个残酷的事实：你在屏幕前其实根本看不到眼前这种粉色的真实面貌。这并不是由于镜头对焦失败，而是因为现场的相机无法完整捕捉它，YouTube 的视频编码无法存储它，你的显示器更是无法显示它。Tom Scott 此时正身处英国艺术家斯图尔特·森普尔（Stuart Semple）的工作室中，而森普尔调制出了被他称为“最粉的粉色”（Pinkest Pink）的颜料。森普尔从五岁起就开始画画，见过无数种粉色，但对于自己的这款创造，森普尔自信地表示：“成千上万的人用过这种粉色，从来没有人说过他们见过更粉的粉色。”（“And thousands and thousands of people have used the pink, and nobody's said they've seen a pinker pink.”）除了最粉的粉色，他还研制了最绿的绿色、最可爱的蓝色、最黄的黄色、世界上最闪亮的天然闪粉，以及全球最哑光、最黑的艺术颜料。这一系列极致颜料的诞生，源于大约一年半前艺术界的一场轰动事件。当时一家名为萨里纳米系统（Surrey NanoSystems）的公司研发出了超级吸光材料 Vantablack，这种被称为“比最黑还要黑”的极致黑色震惊了世界。然而，该公司却将 Vantablack 在艺术创作上的独家使用权完全授权给了知名雕塑家阿尼什·卡普尔（Anish Kapoor）。这种对色彩的垄断行为激怒了广大艺术群体，森普尔本人也感到极其愤怒。为了反击，森普尔公开发售了他研发的“最粉的粉色”，但在购买网站上特意加了一条免责声明：购买者必须证明自己不是阿尼什·卡普尔，也与卡普尔没有任何关联。这原本带有强烈讽刺和幽默意味的抗议举动引发了病毒式传播，大量艺术爱好者纷纷下单购买。然而戏剧性的是，阿尼什·卡普尔最终还是设法拿到了一罐最粉的粉色；他将自己的中指浸入粉色粉末中拍照，并发布在 Instagram 上进行挑衅炫耀。卡普尔的举动虽然令人恼火，但也彻底引爆了网络关注，全球订单瞬间如潮水般涌向森普尔的工作室。回忆起那段日子，森普尔感叹道：“当他那么做的时候，感觉既很棒又让人非常抓狂，因为突然之间我们收到了成千上万份订单，我们连续熬夜了大约四个星期赶制粉色颜料，其他什么事都做不了，它完全占据了我们的全部生活。”（“It was sort of great and sort of really frustrating when he did that, because all of a sudden we were getting thousands and thousands of orders we ended up staying up for about four weeks making pink paint and nothing else could happen and it just took over our whole life.”） - **Vantablack 垄断争议**：由 Surrey NanoSystems 研发的超黑材料，其艺术排他性使用权被单独授予阿尼什·卡普尔，引发了艺术界对“颜色独占”的巨大不满。 - **免责条款反制**：森普尔在销售“Pinkest Pink”时设定了著名的购买前置声明，禁止卡普尔及其代理人购买。 - **社交媒体交锋**：卡普尔通过 Instagram 发布竖中指沾满粉末的照片公开回击，戏剧性地反向推动了该粉色颜料的爆单。 --- ### [01:32](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NzVmtbPOrM&t=92s) 为什么你的屏幕无法显示这种粉色：RGB 与色彩空间的物理限制计算机在存储和再现颜色时有各种精妙复杂的算法，但当视频流传输到普通观众的显示终端时，本质上都会被简化为控制红（Red）、绿（Green）、蓝（Blue）三原色像素点发光强度的一串数字。对于绝大多数普通消费级显示设备而言，色彩通道的取值范围被严格限制在 8 位二进制数之内，即 0 到 255（二进制中的八个 1）。其中 0 代表像素完全熄灭，255 则代表像素达到最大亮度。通过这三个通道的组合，标准屏幕能够显示约 1677 万种（$256^3$）颜色。但这 1600 多万种颜色绝非自然界的全部色彩，森普尔的这款粉色就超出了该范围。Tom Scott 形象地解释了这种硬件局限：如果把摄像机直接对准太阳拍摄，屏幕前的观众绝不会被晃瞎，因为数据上限就是 255，显示屏无法发出超过 100% 亮度的光；Tom Scott 尖锐地总结道：“数值不可能超过 255，我无法让你的屏幕亮度超过 100%。”（“The numbers can't go above 255, I can't make your screen go brighter than 100%.”）反过来，即便镜头对准绝对的黑暗，数值也无法低于 0，屏幕不可能比关机状态还要暗。同理，当现实世界中某种颜色的鲜艳度和饱和度过高时，显示设备的像素点根本无法发出足够纯粹的红、绿或蓝光来准确再现它——“最粉的粉色”正是这样一种超出了普通显示设备色域（Color Gamut）的极端色彩。 ```mermaid flowchart LR accTitle: 颜色数字化再现的限制流程 accDescr: 展示从自然界超高饱和度色彩到摄录系统、8位限制再到屏幕无法完整还原的过程 subgraph RealWorld["现实物理世界"] A["现实中的超饱和色彩<br/>(Pinkest Pink)"] end subgraph CaptureAndStore["数字化与传输瓶颈"] B["相机传感器色域截断"] C["8-bit RGB 编码限制<br/>(通道数值范围 0-255)"] end subgraph Output["终端呈现"] D["标准显示器硬件极限<br/>(约 1600 万色色域)"] E["失真/削顶呈现<br/>(无法还原原始荧光粉感)"] end A --> B B --> C C --> D D --> E ``` --- ### [02:35](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NzVmtbPOrM&t=155s) 复杂药剂般的颜料调配与粉色模拟人类调制颜料的历史极其漫长且包罗万象。森普尔介绍说，世界上存在着极其庞大的颜料库，涵盖了有机颜料、无机颜料、合成颜料、人造提取物以及天然矿物，人类几乎“从有文明的第一天起就在挖掘它们”。历史上甚至曾有臭名昭著的“木乃伊棕”（Mummy brown），那种颜料正是通过研磨真正的木乃伊尸体制作而成的。如今，艺术家可以从庞大的基础颜料数据库中订购原材料并自由尝试混合。为了调配出这种前所未见的粉色，森普尔尝试了各种不同颜料与结合剂（Binders）的搭配方案，经历反复创造、微调和重新平衡配比，才最终锁定了分子与微粒之间的精确比例关系。森普尔将这种精密调试过程形容为调制神秘配方：“所以实际上，这是一剂相当复杂的小药水。”（“So it's quite a complicated little potion, actually.”）虽然随着技术进步，未来几年内支持更广色域（Wide Color Gamut）的高端显示硬件可能会普及并能够再现这种粉色，但在目前条件下，Tom Scott 只能通过一种视觉对比的技巧来向观众模拟现场感受。在镜头画面中，Tom Scott 首先数字调低了颜料的饱和度，让它看起来显得平淡黯淡；随后他将饱和度重新拉回标准视频的最大上限。他告诉观众：请想象现实与屏幕的差距，就像刚才变鲜艳的过程再往上夸张翻倍一样，现实中的粉色就是如此夸张、甚至荒谬地粉嫩。在亲自上手涂抹粉末时，Tom Scott 惊叹不已：“我简直无法自拔于它有多么明亮发光。”（“I cannot get over how luminous this is.”）他原以为这只是一堆平平无奇的粉末，但一旦将它抹开，那股耀眼的荧光感便瞬间喷薄而出。 - **颜料渊源**：人类历史上曾使用过各种奇特材料制作颜色，包括使用木乃伊遗骸制成的“木乃伊棕”（Mummy brown）。 - **结合剂与调配难度**：极致粉色并非单一色素，而是特定颜料粉末与特殊结合剂经过极其精密的比例调校而成的复合材料。 - **饱和度跃迁演示**：由于无法直接通过 8 位 RGB 画面输出真实颜色，视频通过故意削弱再恢复局部饱和度的方式，引导观众利用心理反差来脑补现实中那股直逼眼球的荧光亮粉感。 ## Notable quotes > [01:32](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NzVmtbPOrM&t=92s) 数值不可能超过 255，我无法让你的屏幕亮度超过 100%。 — Tom Scott ## Mentioned Tom Scott, Stuart Semple, Anish Kapoor, Surrey NanoSystems, Vantablack, Pinkest Pink, Mummy brown, Instagram, YouTube ## Video description I can show a brighter pink. I can show a more saturated pink. But I can't show you this pink. Not quite. More about Stuart Semple and his pigments: https://www.culturehustle.com/ [that's his store, we overloaded Stuart's personal web site, http://www.stuartsemple.com, within a few minutes...!] (I reached out to Anish Kapoor's studio twice for comment; I didn't get any response.) Edited by Michelle Martin https://www.youtube.com/@OnTheCrux 🟥 MORE FROM TOM: https://www.tomscott.com/ (you can find contact details and social links there too) ❓ LATERAL, free weekly podcast: https://lateralcast.com/ https://youtube.com/lateralcast/ ➕ TOM SCOTT PLUS: https://youtube.com/tomscottplus 👥 THE TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES: https://youtube.com/techdif [Source](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NzVmtbPOrM)

Source quotes

[1:32] Tom Scott: 数值不可能超过 255，我无法让你的屏幕亮度超过 100%。

Source quotes

[1:32] Tom Scott: there are colours that are so intense your screen can't display them, the pixels cannot go red, green or blue enough.

Original transcript

[0:00] You're not seeing this pink. Not properly. [0:02] This camera can't capture it, [0:04] YouTube can't store it, [0:05] and your screen can't display it. [0:07] I'm in the studio of artist Stuart Semple, [0:10] and he's made what he calls the Pinkest Pink. [0:14] I've been painting since I was five years old, [0:16] and I've seen a lot of pink. [0:19] And thousands and thousands of people have used the pink, [0:21] and nobody's said they've seen a pinker pink. [0:24] This stuff's really pink. [0:26] I've created the pinkest pink, the greenest green, [0:29] the loveliest blue, and the yellowest yellow. [0:32] I've also created the world's most glittery natural glitter [0:35] and the mattest blackest art material in the world. [0:40] About a year and a half ago, a company called Surrey Nanosystems [0:44] announced that they'd created Vantablack, [0:46] which was this really awesome blacker-than-the-blackest-black black [0:51] but they gave the exclusive rights to an artist called Anish Kapoor to use it, [0:54] and that annoyed a lot of artists, [0:56] and I got really annoyed as well. [0:58] So I put my Pinkest Pink out. [1:00] On the web site I put a disclaimer [1:02] that you weren't Anish Kapoor, you weren't associated with Anish Kapoor. [1:05] A lot of people thought that was quite funny [1:08] and a lot of people bought the pink [1:10] unfortunately including Anish Kapoor, who managed to get his hands on it [1:14] and then he dipped his finger in it [1:16] and put it on Instagram that he'd got the pink. [1:19] It was sort of great and sort of really frustrating when he did that, [1:22] because all of a sudden we were getting thousands and thousands of orders [1:25] we ended up staying up for about four weeks making pink paint [1:29] and nothing else could happen [1:30] and it just took over our whole life. [1:32] There are all sorts of complicated and clever ways that computers can store colour, [1:36] but by the time this video reaches your screen [1:38] it's basically just a series of numbers that say how bright [1:42] to make each of the red, green and blue pixels, [1:44] the tiny lights that make up your screen. [1:47] And unless you've got a really fancy, expensive screen, [1:50] those numbers run from 0 to 255 -- which is eight 1s in binary. [1:55] 0 means turn the pixel off, 255 means as bright as it can go. [2:01] That means your screen can show somewhere around 16 million colours. [2:05] But that's not every colour. [2:07] And it's not this one. [2:08] Because if I pointed this camera at the sun, you wouldn't be blinded. [2:12] The numbers can't go above 255, I can't make your screen go brighter than 100%. [2:17] And if I point it at something extremely dark, the number can't go below 0. [2:22] I can't make your screen any darker than if it was turned off. [2:26] In the same way, there are colours that are so intense [2:29] your screen can't display them, the pixels cannot go red, green or blue enough. [2:33] And this is one of them. [2:35] There are massive libraries of pigments, [2:38] organic ones, inorganic ones, synthetic ones, created ones, natural ones, [2:42] and they've been digging them up since day dot. [2:45] 'Mummy brown' was made out of ground-up mummies. [2:47] So there's a huge database of pigments that you can order. [2:52] And you can play with them. [2:53] I've made mixes of these pigments and binders, [2:55] created something, tweaked it, and gone back and got these relationships right. [3:00] So it's quite a complicated little potion, actually. [3:03] In a few years' time, technology will move on. [3:05] It's already possible to buy expensive equipment with a wider colour gamut, [3:09] and that might be able to display this pink. [3:12] But in the meantime, I can try and simulate what being here is like. [3:16] In this shot, this one here, I've digitally adjusted the saturation of this pink [3:21] so it's not quite as intense. [3:23] Now if I turn it back up... [3:26] Imagine that change, but more so. [3:29] That's how pink this pink is. [3:31] It is ridiculously pink. [3:34] Thank you to Stuart Semple and all the team at his workshop: [3:36] pull down the description for more about them, their pigments, and this pink. [3:41] This is gorgeous! [3:43] I cannot get over how luminous this is. [3:46] I started out, like, "well, this isn't doing anything, this is just powder" [3:49] and then it just goes!