my new iphone 3G black its blue!!!

[alejovh1]

so I was showing off the 3G to a friend and we were sitting outside work in direct sunlight, the plastic back looked comlpetely blue/purple rather than black!
wet back inside and looked black again! anyone else noticed that? probably just the reflection? anyway the comment I got back was "nice purple iphone"

 

[jakeacc]

take a picture of it

 

[newyorksole]

You're the third person on these forums that I read that from. I hope mine just looks pure black.

 

[Virgil-TB2]

so I was showing off the 3G to a friend and we were sitting outside work in direct sunlight, the plastic back looked comlpetely blue/purple rather than black!
wet back inside and looked black again! anyone else noticed that? probably just the reflection? anyway the comment I got back was "nice purple iphone"

Take your shades off.

There, fixed it for you.

 

[jfreak623]

Yes mine is like this too. It is almost like a deep navy blue outside.

 

[Nashional]

The first time I took it out after leaving the store Friday was to show my wife and we were in direct sun. I was happy to get black (last 16Gb one) and as I said that and showed it to her, it looked purple in the sun.

 

[alejovh1]

Yes mine is like this too. It is almost like a deep navy blue outside.

wow, thank you. I thought I was loosing it and seeing different colors!!

 

[michaelmaxwell2]

Are you all males? Because you all can be a tad colorblind.

 

[Pedromiguel20]

purple is just what you're eye is seeing in direct sun light but it black. It's a human default as the eye is not able to capture such a color.

Sun light+black appears purpulish in some sort.

 

[tritonj]

it is the sunlight reflecting off the gloss finish on the plastic.

 

[Tallest Skil]

purple is just what you're eye is seeing in direct sun light but it black. It's a human default as the eye is not able to capture such a color.

Sun light+black appears purpulish in some sort.

Yeah, I'm looking outside. At this truck across the street. It's black. No, it's not nighttime.

 

[MultiFinder17]

Same thing happens if you look at a first-gen iPhone in the sunlight; take a gander at the home button and see if it looks like the glass

 

[Penguinwrangler]

Boy this iPhone is really ticking off the people who don't understand how light or their eyes work, huh? First the "mine is yellower than yours" kerfuffle over what is actually an improvement to the iPhone's color temperature, and now it's "purple"? True black is the absence of light frequencies of any kind. Direct sunlight is pretty much the opposite of that, save for the frequencies that our atmosphere filters out (which allows us to live on this planet) and we only get to "see" a small fraction of those. If you hold the iPhone in direct sunlight you're going to get some frequencies bounced back at you no matter what the quality of the black material. Hell, the grease from your hand on the plastic would be enough to refract some. Is it possible that for structural reasons a plastic with near 100% absorption couldn't be used? Sure. Maybe it's not a perfect black in that sense, but it's not going to be noticeable until you bombard the phone with the full range of the spectrum.

 

[alejovh1]

just to make it clear, I'm talking about the back plastic cover not the screen!
and I'm not complaining, love my iphone. please relax and enjoy your purple iphone!

 

[mkoesel]

Pretty common effect. My old Black SLVR looked distinctly brown in sunlight.

 

[kis]

so I was showing off the 3G to a friend and we were sitting outside work in direct sunlight, the plastic back looked comlpetely blue/purple rather than black!
wet back inside and looked black again! anyone else noticed that? probably just the reflection? anyway the comment I got back was "nice purple iphone"

funny, I just said to my wife today that my 3G looks blue in direct sunlight

 

[Interstella5555]

Boy this iPhone is really ticking off the people who don't understand how light or their eyes work, huh? First the "mine is yellower than yours" kerfuffle over what is actually an improvement to the iPhone's color temperature, and now it's "purple"? True black is the absence of light frequencies of any kind. Direct sunlight is pretty much the opposite of that, save for the frequencies that our atmosphere filters out (which allows us to live on this planet) and we only get to "see" a small fraction of those. If you hold the iPhone in direct sunlight you're going to get some frequencies bounced back at you no matter what the quality of the black material. Hell, the grease from your hand on the plastic would be enough to refract some. Is it possible that for structural reasons a plastic with near 100% absorption couldn't be used? Sure. Maybe it's not a perfect black in that sense, but it's not going to be noticeable until you bombard the phone with the full range of the spectrum.

Well said. The black 3G is most likely going to be covered in oil from your fingers, which will help the "purplish" look.

 

[jakeacc]

glossy black plastic + sunlight + reflection of blue sky = dark purple

Don't believe me? Take another glossy plastic item besides your iPhone and look at on a sunny day.

 

[brian.kirby]

I completely agree the 3G "black" is really not black at all.
What's up with that?

 

[LeeTom]

i can't believe it took so long for someone to mention the sky. IT'S THE SKY, PEOPLE! THE SKY! reflective black + blue = purple. THE SKY!!!

 

[HarryKeogh]

Different lighting is always going to make colors look different. What's black under fluorescent light may look purplish or reddish (because black dye is a combination of colors...if the dye used is a blue-based black it may appear purplish or reddish if it's a red-based black dye) under incandescent light or sunlight.

I own a company that does anodizing and we run into this phenomenon all the time. Parts are inspected under different light sources and we have to adjust our chemistry to get it as black as possible but it's never going to be perfect black under different light sources due to the way different frequency light waves bounce off of it and of course, there's no "true black" except for the black album by Spinal Tap.

 

[wonderbread57]

This thread is worthless without pictures!

 

[LotuSviLLe]

I have noticed the same thing when I have looked at the back of my iPhone in direct sunlight. It looks blue instead of black. yay.

 

[fanbrain]

I have noticed the same thing when I have looked at the back of my iPhone in direct sunlight. It looks blue instead of black. yay.

In the additive color spectrum, you make black by adding all colors together. You can't make "pure black". Purple is the dominant color reflecting back. Get over it.

 

[overcast]

In the additive color spectrum, you make black by adding all colors together. You can't make "pure black". Purple is the dominant color reflecting back. Get over it.

You are wrong, additive color involves light. Red, green and blue. When they are combined it forms white light. The light must be illuminated/emitted by the source.

Subtractive, used in pigments and dyes, are made up of Cyan, Magenta, Yellow. This forms black. The color is formed by absorbing wavelengths and reflecting others.