What every coder should know about gamma
Summary
This post provides a thorough primer on gamma correction in computer graphics, explaining why perceptual brightness is non-linear, how gamma encoding/decoding relates to sRGB, and why image processing should operate in linear space. It covers practical effects of gamma mistakes on gradients, color blending, alpha compositing, image resizing, antialiasing, and physically-based rendering, with examples, references, and historical context.