Get the Drop on Pixels

Take a single drop of water on your fingertip and flick it on your computer screen, in white space below:

See bright little bits of red, blue and green?

Those are pixels: tiny, individual specks of colour that blend together to form the white background of your screen. (On a black and white screen, you'll see black and white pixels.)

Your computer uses combinations of  red ,  green  and  blue  to form all other colours, including white. The water drop acts as a lens to magnify the individual pixels - they're so small otherwise, your eyes combine the colours into white.

Why are the pixels so bright?

There are two reasons:

1. the sharp contrasts between the colours of adjacent pixels make them appear brighter;
2. the water drop lens focuses light in a more intense beam on your eyes.

OK. Red, green and blue dots make white. But what about other colours?