What is the meaning of' in black and white'?

Answer 1

If something is in black and white, it is in writing or in print. Example - I want to see that agreement down on paper, in black and white.

Answer 2

It depends on how it is being used. The most common definition of the words is simply the colors they represent with white being a total absence of color and black being composed of all colors. The words are sometimes used to differentiate between good (white) and evil (black), as in the "good guys always wear white hats." However, the words are often used to describe a situation that is not totally one way or the another such that it becomes "gray" or somewhat unclear. For example, most people agree that lying is not a good thing to do, but in some cases, lying is almost necessary to avoid hurting someone. If a chubby person asked, "Do I look fat in these pants?" a truthful answer would be "Yes," because a chubby person looks fat period. Lying would be kinder.

Answer 3

Black and white implies, in writing. Black and white offers the best contrast and hence adds clarity. Also implies the proof of such written document adds to credibility.

Answer 4

I believe the saying originated when newsprint first came out. "It's right there in black and white" referring of course, to black ink on a white page being easy to see, and read. So basically its meaning refers to any concept that is easy to see, or understand.
And there you have it, explained to you in black and white.

Answer 5

Easy to perceive or understand; clear. It is so plain, or make it so plain that you can see it. It's as obvious as if it where written there in front of you in black and white, (news paper-black ink/ white page). As easy to distinguish as black is from white.

Answer 6

No doubts just facts or lies. There is a clear demarcation line.

Answer 7

it means in writing.. usually used for contracts, agreements etc

black = pen/ink
white = paper

Answer 8

it means, one way or the other. no middle ground. for or against. extremes. no grey area. either this or that. it's a logical fallacy

Answer 9

it infers that nothing should be left to question or analyze. it's as easy as yes or no, or right and wrong, and there should be no doubt.

Answer 10

Black-and-white is a broad adjectival term used to describe a number of monochrome forms of visual arts. Most forms of visual technology start out in black and white, then slowly evolve into color as technology progresses.

"Black-and-white" as a description is also something of a misnomer, for in addition to black and white most of these media included varying shades of grey. Further, many prints, especially those produced earlier in the development of photography, were in sepia (mainly to provide archival stability), which gave a richer, more subtle shading than reproductions in plain black-and-white, although less so than color. "


Media
Black-and-White photos on a photo booth strip.
Black-and-White photos on a photo booth strip.

Some popular black-and-white media forms of the past include:

* Movies and animated cartoons. While some color film processes (including hand coloring) were experimented with and in limited use from the earliest days of the motion picture, the switch from films almost always being in black-and-white to almost always being in color was a gradual process mostly taking place from the 1930s to the 1950s. Even when most studios had the capabilities to make color films, they were not wildly popular at first because early tinting techniques and Technicolor® film left much to be desired. For the years 1940–1966 a separate Academy Award for Best Art Direction was given for black and white movies, along with one for those in color. Some modern directors still shoot in black and white as an artistic choice, though it is much less common for a major Hollywood production. See List of recent films in black-and-white.
* Photography was black-and-white or shades of sepia. Color photography was originally rare and expensive, and early on often less true to life. Color photography became much more common in middle of the 20th century, and has been getting more and more common since. Black-and-white remains a niche market for photographers who use the medium for artistic purposes. This can take the form of black and white film or digital conversion to greyscale, with optional image manipulation to enhance the results. For amateur use, Kodak manufactures a black-and-white disposable camera. Special films are produced today which give black and white images using the ubiquitous C41 color process.
* Television was originally broadcast in black-and-white. Some color broadcasts began in the 1950s, with color becoming common in western industrialized nations during the 1960s and 1970s. The United States upgraded to the color standard between 1964 and 1967, while the United Kingdom settled on an official color system in November 1969. Australia kept airing black-and-white broadcasts until 1975. While no longer used much professionally, many consumer camcorders have the ability to record in black-and-white.
* Most newspapers were black-and-white until the late 1970s; The New York Times and The Washington Post remained in black-and-white until the 1990s, some claiming USA Today was the major impetus for the change. Even today, many newspapers restrict color photographs to the front and other prominent pages since mass producing photographs in black-and-white is considerably cheaper than color.
* Jet magazine was either all or mostly black-and-white until the end of the 20th century, when it became all-color.
* School yearbooks have (historically) been printed either entirely or mostly in black-and-white. All-color school yearbooks are rare as of now, but the rate is increasing.

Today black-and-white media often has a "nostalgic," historic, or anachronistic feel to it. For example, the 1998 Woody Allen film Celebrity was shot entirely in black-and-white. Other films, such as American History X and The Wizard of Oz play with the concept of the black-and-white anachronism, using it to selectively portray scenes and characters who are either more outdated or dull than the characters and scenes shot in full-color. This manipulation of color appears in the film Sin City and the occasional television commercial.

Since the mid-1960s, few mainstream films have been shot entirely on black-and-white film stock, even if they are intended to be presented theatrically in black-and-white. The reasons are frequently commercial, as it is difficult to sell a film for television broadcasting if no color version exists. For example, movies such as John Boorman's The General and Joel Coen's The Man Who Wasn't There were obliged to be filmed in color by their respective distributors, despite being presented in black-and-white for artistic reasons. Clerks. is one of the few well-known recent films shot in black-and-white for no artistic purpose; due to the extremely low out-of-pocket budget, the production team could not afford the added costs of shooting in color (though the difference in film stock price would be slight, the store's fluorescent lights could not be used to light for color; by shooting in black and white, the film did not have to rent lighting equipment).

Some modern film directors will occasionally shoot movies in black-and-white because they believe it captures their vision better. This is also true of black-and-white photography, where many photographers choose to shoot in solely black-and-white since the stark contrasts enhances the subject matter.

Computing

Most personal computers had monochrome (black-and-white, black and green, or black and amber) screens until the late 1980s, though the Apple II family of computers was an exception to this.

In computing terminology black-and-white is often used to refer to an image consisting solely of black or white pixels; what would normally be called a black-and-white image is more accurately referred to in this context as grayscale or greyscale, ie an image containing shades of grey.