eli5: why do we use red green blue instead of the primary colours for light

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i kinda understand the difference between subtractive and addictive colours but i don’t understand why we use green instead of yellow for lights

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13 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Navigation lighting is a part of this. Green + Red = Amber, so if you see a ship or aircraft at a distance and the light looks amber, it’s headed straight for you. Incidentally, this is how battery status and other LED lights can work by cycling the G/R signal very fast so they blur together as amber – you can move the LED quickly and persistence of vision will show the alternating colors (my students loved that).

Anonymous 0 Comments

ELi5 answer…

Red, Green, Blue is pure light and the official primary colours that create all other colours.

Paint / Ink is impure, that’s why they have to use red, yellow and blue to achieve the same result.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Because the cones in your retina responded to either red, blue, or green light. We are hardwired for them.