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Talk:Pink noise

Worst Article Ever
This has to be the worst article I've ever encountered on Wikipedia. It is utterly, 100% useless to the overwhelming majority of people. Not only could I not understand a thing that the article says, I can't even understand the talk page! Good gravy, this is the quintessential example of something written by experts for experts, and no non-expert can make head nor tail of it.

I came here because I have a noise-generating device that I sleep with. Among its myriad settings, it includes white noise and pink noise. I find the pink noise superior for sleeping, because it empirically has more bass than the white noise. I came here to learn just what the difference is between the two, but I leave with no increased knowledge, and a bundle of confusion. I'm still especially scratching my head trying to grasp how somehow speech and music are both examples of pink noise! I have the scores to all nine Beethoven symphonies, please point me to the bars where anything remotely like what I hear from my pink noise generator occurs.

I'm so flummoxed by what I read that it is hard for me to give suggestions for improvement. But one thought that occurs to me is that it might help to provide some specific concrete examples when making grandiose sweeping statements. For example, the claim that the pitch sequence in all melodies is basically pink noise. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.212.96.159 (talk) 15:59, 23 May 2016 (UTC)

Low frequency noise
There is much interest in the source, nature, effect, and suppression of low-frequency noise, however you don't hear much talk about the use of 1/f noise to excite target phenomena.
 * For example, soothing music is said to contain 1/f noise; what woud be the effect if the level of 1/f in said music was increased by artificial or natural means? more soothing?
 * Experiments on human subjects have been done for reducing blood pressure simply by staring at a flickering candle flame. Would the candle flame not be a rich source of 1/f "noise". I know that it is soothing to me when my blood pressure drops, so perhaps that is the effect of the candle flame and music.
 * I think it might also be true that if a person was placed in an environment where there was no 1/f present whatsoever (to any of the five senses), that person might go stark, raving mad?

-Charles Trotter, Consultant (Definition of Consultant: Someone who knows about the same as everyone else but has it organized and gives slide shows.)

Reducing ambient noise
i've heard of the use of pink noise in reducing ambient noise, as pink noise would maskerade human voice. Like a silencer. Is it true? If it is it should be pointed in the article.

-alexandre van de sande

alexandre, the use of noise (white, pink, etc.) to mask other sounds is often misunderstood/overrated. trusting a noisemaker for masking can in some cases have the opposite of its intended effect. for example, i recall seeing a film where a psychologist turned on a small nearby noisemaker prior to a session with a client, with the intention of keeping those in nearby rooms from following their conversation.

"small" is important there, because it means the noise probably won't have much low end; therefore, it won't go through walls very well. "nearby" is even worse, because if the noisemaker is close to them, the result will be that they talk louder to hear themselves over the noise. somebody in a room might then hear them better with the noisemaker than without.

almost any noise of moderate bandwidth can mask other sounds near the same frequencies. white and pink noise are often used because they are at constant levels, not having pauses through which the protected sounds may be discerned. an argument can be made that a better masking source would have some irregular nature to it, making it harder for a determined listener to tune out. the level, however, should remain mostly consistent. in any case, the locations of the sound sources and the potential listeners are crucial.

in the above example, the psychologist and his client would be better off moving toward the center of the room (away from walls and vents), and placing low-to-mid frequency noise sources along every wall and vent through which they don't want their conversation heard. that way they will keep their voices low (being further from the noise), and the relative mix downstream will have more noise in it, not only because of the new mix inside the room (more noise than voices), but because the low and mid frequencies will go through the walls better, and because the noise source is now closer (therefore louder) than the voices.

an even better example, though crude, is the behavior of folks using the toilet when a loud fan is overhead. they have the illusion that people outside hear the same mix they do. however, much of the fan's noise (mid-to-high frequency) is masked by the door and walls, whereas the, um, "natural" sounds are quite audible, and sometimes even louder than they would be if the donor didn't have that loud fan in his ears. a similar example is how people try to hold conversations with somebody running water at a kitchen sink; the proximity of the running water makes it hard for the person at the sink to hear, whereas the noise:voice mix for the person across the room is negligible.

re "silencer", the use of that word in this context is misleading. masking can only silence things relatively. the overall level is always increased, unless anti-noise is the masking source. however, though anti-noise works great in headsets and other tightly controlled environments, it's far more position dependent then brute force masking (drowning out), and isn't the panacea it's often portrayed. SaltyPig 06:25, 10 Jan 2005 (UTC)

White vs pink
SaltyPig, from our edit summaries we both feel we have corrected the article, though our edits appear to be the opposite. Please explain where I am wrong. Hyacinth 18:31, 9 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * major correction: The human auditory system...does not perceive equal magnitude at all frequencies, thus whitwhite noise is not perceived as white noise, but pink noise is." -- Hyacinth 15:00, 11 Aug 2004
 * "The human auditory system...does not perceive equal magnitude at all frequencies..." section. incorrect -- SaltyPig 01:30, 9 Jan 2005

 * Well, we hear according to the Equal-loudness contours, right? - Omegatron 19:56, Jan 9, 2005 (UTC)

hi, Hyacinth. please excuse if i've stepped across wiki protocol. i don't have much experience with contested edits. glad you brought it up. the logical conclusion from acknowledging the distortion of the human ear is that nothing is heard as it is, rendering moot the pointing out that we don't hear one certain thing as what it is. what's crucial is that we hear white noise as our version of white noise; we recognize it for what it is. we can tell the difference between that and pink noise. should we say that we don't hear a cat's meow as a cat's meow until it's been run through an arbitrary filter to make it closer to what a mic hears?

the previous version asserted that "white noise is not perceived as white noise, while pink noise is." does that mean pink noise is perceived as white noise, or pink noise is perceived as pink noise? either way, it's incorrect. pink noise is not adjusted accurately for the human ear. if there's a color of noise (say for example, "fletcher-munson-bark") which is adjusted for the human ear, it might be worth a mention. however, it would still be misleading to say that "fletcher-munson-bark noise" is perceived as white noise.

let me know what you think of that. and please feel free to revert until we clear this up. my overall feeling is that the paragraph is unnecessary. whether your version or mine, i'd like it removed. pink noise has no direct bearing to bark, fletcher-munson, et al, nor should we forget that all such quantifications of human perception are arbitrary, and hardly suited to equating with such a tightly specified, verifiable thing as pink noise. SaltyPig 22:48, 9 Jan 2005 (UTC)

 * It's worth noting that '1/f noise' is not limited to sounds like the samples played on the site. Music and speech both have 1/f noise spectra (Voss & Clarke, 1975). —WebDrake 12:09, 20 April 2006 (UTC)

The noise of financial markets?

 * 1/f noise is found in a wide variety of physical phenomena. Examples include ... financial markets, astronomy, and human coordination.

What exactly does it mean for financial markets, astronomy, and human coordination to produce noise? Obviously this isn't talking about physical sound (stars don't make sound that travels through space), but since the article does appears to be talking about sound, this should be made clear. — Asbestos | Talk  10:03, 14 Apr 2005 (UTC)

 * 'Noise' is a meaningful term with respect to all signals, not just sound. The original discovery of 1/f noise was in current fluctuations in vacuum tubes (Schottky, 1918, 1922; Johnson, 1925).  With respect to financial markets you can look at e.g. volatility (fluctuations in the amplitude of price movements): the autocorrelation shows power-law decay.  I'll try to add some references here.  —WebDrake 11:58, 20 April 2006 (UTC)

True pink noise
I have some problems with the recent entry. It says:

 * "Producing true pink noise is notoriously difficult. Most digital and analog "pink noise" generators don't produce mathematically perfect 1/f noise; instead they start with white noise and filter it to remove more and more energy at succesively higher frequencies (about 3 dB per octave). This produces a more or less acceptable approximation to pink noise, depending on how many filters are used, but true pink noise cannot be produced from white noise with a finite set of filters."

Producing "true" pink or white noise is impossible - it would require infinite energy to generate the high frequencies all the way out to infinity. That means that these faulty pink noise generators don't start with true white noise to begin with. When you say that it takes a number of filters, you must be talking about a practical limitation, not a mathematical one. If you had the right kind of filter, and you had noise that was white over the bandwidth of interest, you would only need one filter. So when you talk about a number of filters, you must be talking about a specific kind of filter. Which kind? PAR 05:43, 25 September 2005 (UTC)

Good points. Why don't you be bold and fix the article? —Keenan Pepper 12:54, 26 September 2005 (UTC)

Ok - I did. PAR 02:06, 29 September 2005 (UTC)

Producing theoretically perfect pink noise with filters is impossible, even if you did have perfect white noise to start with. This is because a single filter pole produces a rolloff of 6dB/oct, whereas the required response is 3dB/oct - a half-pole filter! This response has to be approximated with multiple stages, and the approximation will never be entirely accurate, though it is possible to produce good approximations for certain bands of interest (pink audio noise to 1dB accuracy, for example). This is the "notoriously difficult" of the original paragraph.Electricdruid (talk) 22:09, 14 June 2013 (UTC)

Split
"Pink" is a word to describe the character of noise, and is unrelated to its source or the medium it exists in. It's just a description of the noise's frequency content. For instance, statistics of natural phenomena can be pink without involving electronics at all.

"Flicker" noise is a specific phenomenon found in electronic circuits, which happens to have a pink spectrum. Flicker noise should not redirect here. — Omegatron 14:06, 1 September 2006 (UTC)

 * If you want to write a detailed article on flicker noise, that's fine with me. —Keenan Pepper 16:15, 1 September 2006 (UTC)

 * Well, I'll start it, anyway. :-) — Omegatron 17:00, 1 September 2006 (UTC)

 * Oh good! I was worried it would languish as a stub, but it looks quite decent. —Keenan Pepper 21:45, 1 September 2006 (UTC)

 * Actually, I would like to propose it come back into the main pink noise article, for reasons discussed on Talk:Flicker noise. Basically I feel that we can do the particular subject justice in the present article, and also that both subjects gain from being included together: flicker noise, from being discussed in the wider context of possible 1/f noises, and pink noise, because flicker noise is one of the most important historical examples. —WebDrake 22:16, 28 December 2006 (UTC)

1/f noise: some clarifications and a rename/merge proposal
First of all, a query: can someone who knows about this side of things clarify whether "pink noise" refers generally to noise with a $$1/f^{\alpha}$$ spectrum (at least within the range $$\alpha \in [1,2)$$ or whether it refers to strict 1/f noise ($$\alpha = 1$$ only)?

I have the impression that the term "pink noise" is only really used in the context of acoustic noise, can anyone comment on this as well?

More generally, I would propose that this article be renamed 1/f noise, and Brownian noise should be merged into it, with "pink noise" and "brown noise" being subsections of a more general, larger article on all noises with a $$1/f^{\alpha}$$ spectrum.

Thoughts? —WebDrake 01:06, 29 December 2006 (UTC)

 * I've always known pink noise to be strictly 1/f, used in any context; acoustic or otherwise, and definitely distinct from Brownian noise. For an article that summarizes everything with a $$1/f^{\alpha}$$ spectrum, see Colors of noise. — Omegatron 07:00, 29 December 2006 (UTC)

 * No, that article is inadequate to what I have in mind. $$1/f^{\alpha}$$ noise occurs in nature with a variety of $$\alpha$$ values; strict exponents of 1 or 2 are only two possibilities.  For example if you look at the flicker noise review by Voss and Clarke (1976) they cite exponents varying between 1.0 and 1.4.  What makes $$1/f^2$$ noise distinct is that it is simply integrated white noise, so not necessarily a reflection of a complex underlying process.  If we look at the items cited in the pink noise article not all of them have spectra with exponents precisely 1.  It follows that if pink noise has such a strict interpretation this is an inappropriate title for the article. —WebDrake 19:15, 31 December 2006 (UTC)

 * Then those items don't belong in this article. — Omegatron 19:37, 31 December 2006 (UTC)

 * The article really discusses 1/f noise (a term which is used in my experience to refer to any noise with a $$1/f^{\alpha}$$ spectrum) in general, and does so quite well. I propose it should be renamed accordingly and "pink" noise be noted as a special case. —WebDrake 11:43, 1 January 2007 (UTC)

a term which is used in my experience to refer to any noise with a $$1/f^{\alpha}$$ spectrum
 * Aha. You think that "1/f" actually means "1/fα"?  Why do you think that?  I'm pretty sure "1/f" just means "1/f".  "1/f noise falls off at 3 dB per octave", for instance.  — Omegatron 16:25, 1 January 2007 (UTC)

 * I think that because it is my experience based on reading the scientific literature. For example if you read the review by Dutta and Horn cited in the main article, they use the term "$$1/f$$ noise" in the title, but as the text of the article makes clear, they actually address noises where the spectrum has a variety of different exponents between 0.9 and 1.4.  You might also see Voss and Clarke (1975, 1976), in Nature and Phys. Rev. B. —WebDrake 22:16, 1 January 2007 (UTC)

 * Further to the above, a quote from
 * The $$1/f$$ noise is a random process defined in terms of the shape of its power spectral density $$S(f)$$. The power or the square of some variable associated with the random process, measured in a narrow bandwidth, is roughly proportional to reciprocal frequency:
 * $$S(f) = \frac{\textrm{constant}}{|f|^{\gamma}}$$ where $$0 < \gamma < 2$$
 * and $$\gamma$$ is usually close to 1.
 * I don't think you could have a clearer demonstration of the broadness with which the term is used. Many 1/f noise sources indeed have exponents of 1 or close to 1 but it is not the definition.
 * Now we need to address the question: is "pink noise" synonymous with 1/f noise in this sense, or does it strictly mean an exponent of 1? I suspect the former, since in colour terms after all, pink may be paler or darker.  —WebDrake 15:13, 2 January 2007 (UTC)

 * So most define pink noise as exactly 1/f, and others loosen the definition to apply to naturally-occuring noise sources that are "roughly proportional" to 1/f. I don't see what the problem is. — Omegatron 18:46, 2 January 2007 (UTC)

 * There are several issues. One is that I believe the term "1/f noise" to be much more widespread than "pink noise".  Second, if pink noise is so strictly defined (which it might be, since most definitions I've read on the web refer to equal energy per octave), most natural 1/f noises do not conform to this definition and we should rewrite appropriately.  Third, it would be nice to have the concept of $$1/f^\alpha$$ noises discussed collectively in a manner that goes beyond what Colors of noise does.  The "colours" are a rather vague way of discussing the issue. —WebDrake 19:04, 2 January 2007 (UTC)

One is that I believe the term "1/f noise" to be much more widespread than "pink noise".
 * I'd say it's the opposite. :-)  Google test says "pink noise" is 1.3 times as popular, but that's not conclusive.

 Second, if pink noise is so strictly defined (which it might be, since most definitions I've read on the web refer to equal energy per octave)
 * I think it is.

most natural 1/f noises do not conform to this definition and we should rewrite appropriately.
 * Should probably just be in its own section.

Third, it would be nice to have the concept of $$1/f^\alpha$$ noises discussed collectively in a manner that goes beyond what Colors of noise does.
 * That would be better in another article, but what would it contain that's not in the colors of noise article? — Omegatron 19:43, 2 January 2007 (UTC)

 * Try searching on Google Scholar and "1/f" comes out on top, winning not simply in absolute numbers but by an order of magnitude. 1/f is the scientific term. ;-)
 * I think the "colors of noise" article gives a simplistic interpretation of a complex phenomenon. Most naturally occurring noises do not have power spectra that follow an integer power of f.  Mandelbrot and Van Ness suggested the term "fractional noise", in analogy to fractional Brownian motion, to reflect this (I've since seen "fractal noise" used with similar intent).
 * I suggest that I take the existing 1/f noise page and replace the redirect with a writeup along the lines of what I want. If it works out we can make appropriate alterations to pink noise, brown noise and colors of noise.  I will do my best to make minimum disturbance to the existing structure of the noise pages, for the time being (we may end up making major changes, but I won't force them:-).  Sound all right? —WebDrake 20:04, 2 January 2007 (UTC)

''Try searching on Google Scholar and "1/f" comes out on top, winning not simply in absolute numbers but by an order of magnitude. 1/f is the scientific term. ;-)''
 * Ok. :-)

''I suggest that I take the existing 1/f noise page and replace the redirect with a writeup along the lines of what I want. If it works out we can make appropriate alterations to pink noise''
 * I think 1/f noise and pink noise are closely enough related that they should be the same article. Either move this article to 1/f and rewrite it, or do as you suggested and overwrite this article when you're done.  I don't think we should have separate articles for each term.

''I think the "colors of noise" article gives a simplistic interpretation of a complex phenomenon. Most naturally occurring noises do not have power spectra that follow an integer power of f.''
 * I'd say the noise colors are simple and well-defined integer powers, while the naturally-occurring noises are grouped into whatever color bin they are closest to. "The noise caused by x is approximately pink", for instance.   The colors of noise article is mostly meant to define the various terms and, I hope, will someday explain where they came from as well.  It originated from an unsourced newsgroup posting that was passed around for several years, and I think has improved drastically in comparison.

Mandelbrot and Van Ness suggested the term "fractional noise", in analogy to fractional Brownian motion, to reflect this (I've since seen "fractal noise" used with similar intent).
 * Fractional noise could be a very good place for this, linked to from the second paragraph of Colors of noise. We already have Fractional Brownian motion. — Omegatron 20:30, 2 January 2007 (UTC)
 * Sadly "fractional noise" would not be a good term, as the name never caught on.
 * I will use the 1/f noise page for now and, when done, we can decide whether to merge back into pink noise or replace pink noise with a redirect. —WebDrake 20:35, 2 January 2007 (UTC)

 * I see a lot of references to "fractional noise". It's ok to use a less common term for an article title if it's more accurate than the more common term.  I don't think we should have an article called "1/f noise" that's actually about "1/fβ noise". — Omegatron 21:44, 2 January 2007 (UTC)

 * With what search? Searching Google Scholar for "fractional noise" (including quote marks, so searching for the phrase) gets just 644 pages, compared to around 2700 for "pink noise" and about 17,000 for "1/f noise".  It's not a term used in science in my experience. —WebDrake 00:26, 3 January 2007 (UTC)

Update & merge proposal
I note that someone removed the redirect from 1/f noise, which was unfortunate, because I had not yet brought the proposed article to a high enough standard.

Can I suggest that we do not yet merge anything one way or the other, but take the time to finish the new article, then decide how we want to proceed? In the meantime it might be better to reinstate the redirect while 1/f noise remains incomplete.

Comments on what has been written there so far would be welcome. —WebDrake 23:10, 17 January 2007 (UTC)

 * All types of noise of the form 1/fa where a>=0 should be included in one all encompassing article about noise regardless of the source of the noise. Within the main article you can have sections on specific types of noise and their sources. That way if someone is looking for a specific type of noise but doesn't know what it's called they can go to the main article and read it until they find a description that fits their needs. For example I had never heard of flicker noise, although I have heard of electronic pink and white noise, until I went to the article on Pink Noise and saw the merge recommendation box at the top. Dr. Morbius 23:58, 16 February 2007 (UTC)

 * We have Colors of noise, which already mentions it:
 * "Many of these definitions assume a signal with components at all frequencies, with a spectral density per unit of bandwidth proportional to 1/fβ. For instance, white noise is flat, with β = 0, while brown has β = 2."

 * I think that would be the most appropriate place for an all-encompassing article. — Omegatron 16:46, 13 March 2007 (UTC)

Flicker noise merge
Flicker noise was explicitly split from this article because it's a different topic (a type of noise that happens to be pink). I obviously oppose a merge. — Omegatron 01:59, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

I oppose as well. Flicker noise is a particular (distinct) type of pink noise.--Srleffler 03:14, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

 * I support a merge. We're not building a dictionary. It is is better encyclopedic form to cover multiple closely related topics in a single article. --Kvng (talk) 00:13, 19 September 2011 (UTC)

Natural images, and the number of dimensions
Is it a big bug? I think the article is in error concerning the statistics of natural images. It states that natural images should have a 1/f spectrum (and from the text at the beginning it should be clear that this would apply to the power spectrum). But when reading the cited literature (and it is easy, just click the link) I find on page 2385, just below Fig. 7: "The amplitude falls off quickly by a factor of roughly 1/f (i.e., the power falls at 1/f2)." So either the definition of pink and Brownian (red) noise is incorrect, or natural images have a Brownian (red) noise power spectrum. Kaernbach 21:36, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

 * I just verified with David Fields himself. And I got a very interesting answer. It is a question of the number of dimensions. Pink noise (which is self-similar on scaling) is 1/f in one dimension (acoustics), and 1/f^2 in two dimensions. The same is true for Brownian noise: 6 dB/octave in 1 dim, 12 db/octave in 2 dim (always referring to the power spectrum). So the reference to Fields (1987) is correct in the pink noise article, but the definition of pink noise should include the number of dimensions. Is there anybody volunteering for this change? Or should I? Kaernbach 17:53, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

Hooge noise
I found another name for this noise to be "Hooge noise", so I redirected it to this artcle. If that is something different, just let me know,--Rayc 18:10, 3 October 2007 (UTC)

Hooge was one guy who did work on 1/f noise in materials. Sometimes references to him implicitly endorse an incorrect general empirical formula he proposed for the noise magnitude or even some fanciful pseudo-theories intended to explain the incorrect formula.[User:Mbweissman] — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mbweissman (talk • contribs) 23:32, 24 December 2010 (UTC)

Images
I'm all for showing pink being both flat and sloped, with the appropriate text telling the reader which scale, linear or log, is being depicted. I'd especially like it if the reddish-orange graph were available in both linear and log versions. Binksternet (talk) 04:18, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

 * Well, OK, I've tried being nice. You are wrong. whether the x axis is lin or log makes no difference to the direction of the slope of the spectrum. What matters is how the spectrum was generated. If it is constant delta-f such as fft then white noise will be flat, if it is constant %age bandwidth such as octave filters then pink noise will be flat. Greglocock (talk) 04:48, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

Objection! Given that noise has a power of zero at each exact frequency (like the probability is zero for a temperature to be exacty pi degrees centigrade), the vertical axis should not be named "dB" but should be a power density. As the frequency axis is logarithmic, it would make much sense to have a power density as log(Watts/octaves) instead of log(Watts/Hertz). Then, pink noise is a horizontal line. --Joern.loviscach (talk) 15:44, 24 January 2010 (UTC); edited Joern.loviscach (talk) 21:19, 24 January 2010 (UTC)

Film shot length compared to pink noise
I removed this link:

 * http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20527483.900-solved-the-mathematics-of-the-hollywood-blockbuster.html Solved: The mathematics of the Hollywood blockbuster

It does not make any sense to me, because pink noise is filtered randomness, but the article says that pink noise in film shot length is related to attentions spans of viewers, with "attention spans of particular lengths were recurring at regular intervals." Pink noise has no regularly recurring data. Binksternet (talk) 18:37, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

 * You only have your reading comprehension to blame for that, the article is fine. --188.102.158.197 (talk) 09:25, 24 April 2015 (UTC)

Missing citations
There are many theories of the origin of 1/ƒ'' noise. Some theories attempt to be universal, while others are applicable to only a certain type of material, such as semiconductors. Universal theories of 1/ƒ noise remain a matter of current research interest.''

Which theories? Current research interest? References are missing. 84.88.76.28 (talk) 16:37, 9 February 2012 (UTC)

Origin of the name
The Wikipedia article currently says:

"The name arises from being intermediate between white noise (1/ƒ0) and red noise (1/ƒ2) which is commonly known as Brownian noise."

However, I just read this that the name comes from what it looks like as visible light.

Which one is true? Does anyone have a citation for the article's explanation? --4368 (talk) 13:19, 6 March 2012 (UTC)

 * I could not find a citation for white + red = pink. Yours is definitely a reliable source (here's a more specific link). I would encourage you to make the change and see if it sticks. --Kvng (talk) 14:52, 9 March 2012 (UTC)

 * Done. Thanks for the direct link. --4368 (talk) 21:24, 13 March 2012 (UTC)

"Infinite" energy...
At some point in the article it was mentioned that at a point where the equation describing this noise would have f=0, producing a division by zero, that the result would be infinite energy. I may be wrong but I am under the impression that the notion of division by zero producing infinite values is archaic and has been disproven; perhaps that only applies to certain (or most?) schools of mathematics, but I believe that the statement should be revised for clarification to describe the statement asymptotically: as f approaches zero, the energy required to produce the sound wave increases infinitely. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.27.162.44 (talk) 16:03, 19 April 2012 (UTC)

Yes, that section was OR and wrong. It does not necessarily take infinite energy to produce white noise up to a certain frequency, we can then passively filter it with a 3 dB/octave filter, and will get pink noise. The key word missing from any discussion is crest factor, and incidentally there is no requirement in the definition of pink or white noise that they should have gaussian amplitude distributions, which implies infinite instantaneous power. For instance the white noise produced by setting one bit to either zero or one randomly obviously only requires finite power. Greglocock (talk) 22:04, 19 April 2012 (UTC)

Pink noise in DNA
I saw that there is a request for clarification. I found a reference that can be of help but unfortunately I am not educated enough to use it and make my own contribution to this article. If someone can take initiative, here it is: http://linkage.rockefeller.edu/dnacorr/voss92.pdf — Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.218.88.234 (talk) 14:50, 14 January 2013 (UTC)

Image depicting pink noise in time domain
I don't know how to add the image given on this link: http://www.penguinproducer.com/Blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/PinkNoise.png This image clearly depicts pink noise in time domain and the page lacks such image. The image is covered under creative commons license so I guess we can use it. Anybody who knows how to edit wikipedia pages, PLEASE ADD THIS IMAGE TO THE PAGE. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 119.226.74.62 (talk) 05:03, 8 April 2013 (UTC)

Accuracy of "pink" noise sample questioned
I just analysed the "pink" noise sample-sound from this page (27 April 2016) and in fact it looks to be white (flat) from about 2kHz to 22kHz. It does rise in amplitude from 2kHz down to 200Hz.

This isn't a comprehensive analysis, but I think this needs checking further... Is there a better source of pink noise to cite in Wikipedia?

217.33.180.66 (talk) 16:10, 27 April 2016 (UTC) Andrew Steer / http://techmind.org/audio/specanaly.html
 * Same sound spectrum with a slightly different pitch, or just volume, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXtimhT-ff4 prokaryotes (talk) 12:02, 5 September 2018 (UTC)

The word pink
What object has the approximate color that pink noise was named after? Out of context, the word pink describes an artificial, sharp color with discontinous mix of red and blue (like higher intensity purple), with the mids (green) scooped out, and this color is usually used in illustrations on sound. Wouldn't the the resulting color be closer to orange, like the sun with blue subtracted into the sky or a lightbulb? J7n (talk) 00:53, 7 March 2019 (UTC)

 * Pink noise is a mix of red noise and white noise. Astute readers may be able to infer that from Colors of noise but this should be mentioned in the article, if not the lead. ~Kvng (talk) 15:30, 9 March 2019 (UTC)
 * pink noise is 1/f. "red" noise is 1/f², white noise is 1. 1/f != 1/f²+1, so no, it is not a mix of red and white. anyhow, red and white do not mix to pink, red and blue do.
 * if you compute the RGB value of an optical 1/f spectrum, you get a pale orange, #ffbe96. I'm no woman, but that's not pink. Equally, the RGB of a 1/f² spectrum is #ffa96d, which is not exactly red either. 2003:F8:746:4B00:89B2:92E5:A50D:EDC3 (talk) 14:36, 1 June 2023 (UTC)

 * The word pink refers to the flesh of the human hearing system. The first pink noise test signal was a -3dB/octave filter applied to the output of a white noise generator in the 1950s, as far as I can tell. Binksternet (talk) 15:21, 1 June 2023 (UTC)
 * When I said mix of red noise and white noise I did not intend to imply any mathematical rigor. Pink noise has less low frequency energy than red noise and more than white noise. @Binksternet are you serious about pink referring to flesh? Sounds crazy but maybe you have a supporting citation. ~Kvng (talk) 15:46, 4 June 2023 (UTC)
 * I looked just now but I can't find any published support for the claim that pink refers to human flesh. I was told in my audio engineering studies that pink noise was created to better track the human hearing system, and that the word pink referred to ears, ostensibly Caucasian ones. But my instructors never said anything about the visual equivalent of pink noise having a pink-ish appearance. So who knows? Binksternet (talk) 16:47, 4 June 2023 (UTC)
 * Well, they were at least right about the tracking human hearing part. ~Kvng (talk) 13:18, 7 June 2023 (UTC)

Pink Noise in log scale
Isn't the Description section graph wrong? Shouldn't a pink noise probability be flat over the bandwidth in a log frequency scale? 12:30 13 march 2019 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.78.87.131 (talk) 12:27, 13 March 2019 (UTC)

Only if it were binned in constant %bandwidth bins. I suspect that graph is linear frequency reszolution plotted on log scale. Greglocock (talk) 06:58, 14 March 2019 (UTC)

Ok it's maybe a bit too technical for me, but isn't the definition of a pink noise to have an equal energy density for each octave? It's a bit confusing for the reader. unsigned comment added by 213.78.87.131 (talk) 12:27, 13 March 2019 (UTC)

 * Yes, it is confusing. The lead says inversely proportional to frequency and the Definition section agrees. The Description section mentions equal energy per logarithmic frequency unit and, in the same sentence, power falling off at 3 dB/Octave. None of this is well cited. My recollection is that though these descriptions appear to be contradictory, all are legit. We need to work on sourcing and then help readers connect the dots. ~Kvng (talk) 15:30, 17 March 2019 (UTC)

title: Talk:Pink noise


text:
Talk:Simon and Schuster

That's an interesting article about the crossword bit, which I had either forgotten or didn't know. But the article as a whole is sort of like an article about IBM that says it was founded to sell typing-paper hole-punchers or some such. And then nothing more....

Maybe someone else will fill in someday about the book side of it.... Hayford Peirce 19:24, 11 Aug 2004 (UTC)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Talk:Simon and Schuster


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User talk:Wac~enwiki

Hi Wac, Re "multi-use"/"multiuse", I tend to close words up if possible. Plus it's house style where I work :) --Lukobe 19:25, 11 Aug 2004 (UTC)

 * Reasonable enough. Thanks! :) -- wac 19:31, 11 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Sammamish, Washington
Alright, I see what you're saying. I think that things like POV check should only be used in cases of blatant bias--I didn't think that that qualified. In any case, I've cleaned it up a little--I don't think that there's any real POV any more (I think an article's allowed to say things like how a trail "will allow nearby residents and visitors to witness Sammamish's natural beauty on a lakeside path"--what, like the article's supposed to say "This city is considered by many to have some degree of natural beauty, although this claim is disputed by those who believe that the city is an irreperable wasteland and 'totally ugly'"?)

Anyways, you ARE right in that I should've left a note on the talk page. However, I did come back and fix things up again. The reason I didn't leave a note there in the first place is that I just kind of stumbled across the page while I was trying to fix redirects to Washington State that really meant Washington. I've done a lot of this stuff, and I always figure that while I'm there, I might as well read the article and learn something. The article didn't stand out as being totally out of whack, so I just unilaterally removed it. My bad. But hey, since I did just fix much of the problem... are we good? Cool. Hope there's no hard feelings about my mistake. :) Matt Yeager 07:48, 15 January 2006 (UTC)

Invitation to Meetup/Seattle6, a focus group
Hello. I'm part of a research group at the University of Washington (Seattle campus), and my group is reaching out to Wikipedians in the Puget Sound area. We're hosting a focus group designed to gather information on what Wikipedians would like to know about each other when interacting on Wikipedia. Our end goal is to create an embedded application that helps people quickly know more about others' history and activity on Wikipedia, and we feel our design will be much more useful if it's based on insights of users like you.

I'm hoping that the chance to help out local researchers, to engage in lively face-to-face discussion with other Seattle Wikipedians, and to contribute to Wikipedia in a new way will entice you to join us. The session lasts 2 hours and snacks are provided. Sessions will be held on UW Seattle campus - directions will be sent after registration. Your contribution will be greatly appreciated!

Willing and able to help us out? RSVP here. Want to know more? Visit our user talk page. Please help us contact other local Wikipedians, too! Commprac01 (talk) 01:49, 15 March 2009 (UTC)

NEW CATEGORY PAGE
Hello Washington-user!! What do you think of this category? Either on a scale of 1-10 or with commentary. Let me know through the "Special:EmailUser/" section. #TTiT# 13:08, 14 August 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by The-Traveller-in-Tacoma (talk • contribs)

Your account will be renamed
Hello,

The developer team at Wikimedia is making some changes to how accounts work, as part of our on-going efforts to provide new and better tools for our users like cross-wiki notifications. These changes will mean you have the same account name everywhere. This will let us give you new features that will help you edit and discuss better, and allow more flexible user permissions for tools. One of the side-effects of this is that user accounts will now have to be unique across all 900 Wikimedia wikis. See the announcement for more information.

Unfortunately, your account clashes with another account also called Wac. To make sure that both of you can use all Wikimedia projects in future, we have reserved the name Wac~enwiki that only you will have. If you like it, you don't have to do anything. If you do not like it, you can pick out a different name. If you think you might own all of the accounts with this name and this message is in error, please visit Special:MergeAccount to check and attach all of your accounts to prevent them from being renamed.

Your account will still work as before, and you will be credited for all your edits made so far, but you will have to use the new account name when you log in.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Yours, Keegan Peterzell Community Liaison, Wikimedia Foundation 03:33, 20 March 2015 (UTC)

Renamed
 This account has been renamed as part of single-user login finalisation. If you own this account you can |log in using your previous username and password for more information. If you do not like this account's new name, you can choose your own using this form after logging in: . -- Keegan (WMF) (talk) 20:23, 22 April 2015 (UTC)

title: User talk:Wac~enwiki


text:
Talk:CBS

"War of the Worlds" Broadcast
Isn't the War of the Worlds broadcast panic a myth? That section of the article might need to be double checked and corrected with different, reliable, and verifiable sources.

Thanks! Your Pal, MooperVeltresleex 17:33, 29 January 2018 (UTC)

"A resurgent 'Jake and the Fatman'" during the early 90s?
"Under network president Jeff Sagansky, the network was able to earn strong ratings from new shows Diagnosis: Murder; Touched by an Angel; Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman; Walker, Texas Ranger, Picket Fences and a resurgent Jake and the Fatman during this period, and CBS was able to reclaim the first place crown briefly, in the 1992–93 season..."

I think this sentence may need to be revised. Didn't Jake and the Fatman get cancelled after the 1991-92 season (before all the other shows mentioned in this sentence even debuted)? Jim856796 (talk) 18:05, 3 May 2019 (UTC)

Charlie Chaplin
Today I edited away the claim in a photo caption that Charlie Chaplin "chose CBS" to introduce the public to his voice after having done silent film for 20 years, because there was no source, and because the notes on the photograph provided no basis for the idea that this was his first use of radio.

Doing further research, I find that Chaplin was on the radio as early as 1923, before CBS was even on the air. As such, not only should my edits not be undone, we may want to consider removing the image altogether; it's hard to see that CBS did anything particularly notable for Chaplin, nor vice versa. --Nat Gertler (talk) 23:13, 25 December 2020 (UTC)

Lucille Ball responsible for the CBS eyemark?
I've heard a story that goes that Lucille Ball didn't like CBS' "spotlight" logo, and requested that it be changed to the familiar eyemark used today. Is this true or another television urban legend? MightyArms (talk) 19:45, 1 January 2021 (UTC)

 * Online, I could only find this text about the CBS logo on a Tumblr page: "It was created by William Golden based on a Pennsylvania Dutch hex sign as well as a Shaker drawing. Early versions of the logo had the lens telescope to reveal the acronym. It was often depicted against a field of clouds. The new logo made its broadcast debut on October 20, 1951, five days after the premiere of their mega-hit “I Love Lucy.”" [] In retrospect, I would guess not, but I hope this helps. Isthmus55 (talk) 20:38, 1 March 2021 (UTC)

Tiffany Network
I think this part in the lead needs more clarification:

"It has also been called the Tiffany Network, alluding to the perceived high quality of its programming during the tenure of William S. Paley."

Where does the name Tiffany factor into this explanation? Is the "perceived high quality" of CBS under Paley being likened to the quality of Tiffany lamps? 199.120.30.205 (talk) 23:34, 10 February 2022 (UTC)

Split Proposal
The history section is too long and may be better off separated to a different article. kpgamingz (rant me) 18:20, 3 June 2022 (UTC)

CBS Entertainment Group
Should we add a section for CBS Entertainment Group? After all, it is only one of five divisions of Paramount Global that either needs its own article or a section in the CBS article. RamsesTimeGame (talk) 04:40, 21 July 2022 (UTC)
 * No, such a section does not belong here. The only thing that belongs here is that the network (the sole topic of this article) is under that division of the parent company, Paramount Global. It's just a division of the parent company, bears no independent notability, and doesn't need a separate article. The current redirect is proper and there's a reason every time you try to turn it into something else you get reverted. oknazevad (talk) 19:41, 22 August 2022 (UTC)

Creating article.
Creating “CBS logos.” NY8642 (talk) 12:45, 18 May 2024 (UTC)

 * I have marked this article for CSD. It is wholly unnecessary, is comprised entirely of original, unsourced research, and Wikipedia does not typically include separate articles dedicated entirely to logos. GSK (talk • edits) 13:54, 18 May 2024 (UTC)
 * In fact, such articles have been deleted before. NBC logo does exist, however there's no need for a separate CBS logo article, and the section in the article covering the history is sufficient. oknazevad (talk) 04:20, 19 May 2024 (UTC)

Outdated section
CBS is horribly outdated. Both Q (Philippine TV network) and CNN Philippines are already dead. QTV ceased to broadcast in early 2011, CNN Philippines left the airwaves in February this year (2024). Section must be modified or updated accordingly. JWilz12345 (Talk|Contrib's.) 10:00, 14 June 2024 (UTC)

title: Talk:CBS


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Battle of Cádiz

Several engagements near the port of Cádiz in Spain are known as the Battle of Cádiz:
 * Drake's attack on Cádiz in 1587: an English naval force under Francis Drake successfully attacked the port during the Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604).
 * Capture of Cádiz (1596): a successful naval raid Anglo-Dutch by Charles Howard and Robert Devereux during the Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604).
 * Battle of the Gulf of Cadiz (1604): two Spanish ships under Antonio de Oquendo defeat two English ships during the Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604).
 * Cádiz expedition (1625): an unsuccessful naval raid by an Anglo-Dutch force under the Duke of Buckingham during the Anglo-Spanish War (1625–1630).
 * Battle of Cádiz (1640): a French squadron led by Armand de Maillé-Brézé attacked a Spanish convoy during the Thirty Years' War.
 * Battle of Cádiz (1656): an English fleet destroyed and captured a Spanish treasure fleet during the Anglo-Spanish War (1654–1660).
 * Battle of Cádiz (1669): the English ship Mary Rose under John Kempthorne repelled an Algerian squadron of seven ships.
 * Battle of Cádiz (1702): an Anglo-Dutch naval force under George Rooke was repelled by the Spanish Francisco de Villadarias during the War of the Spanish Succession.
 * Blockade of Cadiz (1762): a British fleet prevented the departure of Spanish ships from the port to the Spanish colonies during the Anglo-Spanish War (1762–63).
 * Blockade of Cádiz (1797): the operation of the British fleet under John Jervis is repelled by the Spanish José de Mazarredo during the Anglo-Spanish War (1796–1802).
 * Siege of Cádiz (1810–1812): the French Army is forced to lift the siege of the port by the combined forces of the Spanish, British and Portuguese during the Peninsular War.
 * Siege of Cádiz (1823): the Spanish liberal forces in the port surrender to the French Army and the Spanish royalists during the French invasion of Spain in 1823.
 * Bombardments of Cádiz (1936): carried out by ships of the republican faction during the Spanish Civil War.

title: Battle of Cádiz


text:
Liu Qi (politician, born 1942)

Liu Qi (born November 3, 1942, in Wujin, Changzhou, Jiangsu) is a retired Chinese politician. He formerly served as the Communist Party Secretary of Beijing, and also a member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party. He was also the President of the Beijing 2008 Olympics Organizing Committee.

Biography and career

 * Graduated from Beijing 101 Middle School and the metallurgical department of the Beijing Institute of Iron and Steel Engineering, and majored in iron smelting. With a postgraduate education, Liu holds the professional title of senior engineer.
 * Mayor of Beijing, 1999-2003. He was succeeded by Meng Xuenong, who was replaced by Wang Qishan after the SARS outbreak.
 * Head of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Bid Committee (BOBICO).
 * Named as one 100 most influential people of 2007 by Time magazine.
 * Head of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games.

Subject of human rights litigation
On February 7, 2002, Liu was sued in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California by the San Francisco-based human rights organization, the Center for Justice and Accountability. The plaintiffs in that case alleged that, as mayor of Beijing, Liu was responsible for formulating security policy and had control over the local police. The police were in turn alleged to have tortured the plaintiffs with beatings, electric shock, and forced feedings through tubes inserted through the plaintiffs' noses. The court issued a declaratory judgment that Liu was responsible for violating the defendants' rights to be free from torture and arbitrary detention. However, because Liu did not defend the suit, there were no hearings, trials, or findings of fact on the issues presented.

title: Liu Qi (politician, born 1942)


text:
Wayne Primeau

Wayne Michael Primeau (born June 4, 1976) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League (NHL). He is the younger brother of Keith Primeau.

Playing career
Primeau was a first round draft pick of the Owen Sound Platers in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) and played with the Platers for three years from 1992 to 1995.

He was drafted 17th overall in 1994 by the Buffalo Sabres, where he scored his first NHL goal in his first NHL game against Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils. He was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2000 and was then traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins on February 1, 2001.

Primeau was acquired by the San Jose Sharks from the Penguins in exchange for Matt Bradley on March 11, 2003. After a career year in 2003–04, Primeau was eligible for group IV unrestricted free agency. However, he decided to re-sign with the Sharks.

Primeau was traded to the Boston Bruins on November 30, 2005, (along with Brad Stuart and Marco Sturm) in exchange for Joe Thornton. In February 2007, the Bruins traded him to the Calgary Flames (again along with Brad Stuart) in exchange for Chuck Kobasew and Andrew Ference.

On July 27, 2009, Primeau was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs (along with a second round pick in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft) in exchange for forward Colin Stuart, defenceman Anton Strålman and a seventh-round pick in 2012.

Prior to the start of the Maple Leafs' 2010 training camp, Primeau was signed to a professional tryout contract with the Leafs. He was released at the conclusion of training camp on September 26.

title: Wayne Primeau


text:
Warhammer (game)

Warhammer (formerly Warhammer Fantasy Battle or just Warhammer Fantasy) is a tabletop miniature wargame with a medieval fantasy theme. The game was created by Bryan Ansell, Richard Halliwell, and Rick Priestley, and first published by the Games Workshop company in 1983.

As in other miniature wargames, players use miniature models (minis) to represent warriors. The playing field is a model battlefield comprising models of buildings, trees, hills, and other terrain features. Players take turns moving their model warriors across the playing field and simulate a battle. The outcomes of fights between the models are determined by a combination of dice rolls and simple arithmetic. Though the gameplay is mostly based on medieval warfare, it incorporates fantasy elements such as wizards, dragons, and magical spells.

Warhammer was the first commercial miniature wargame designed to use proprietary models. Prior to this, miniature wargames rulesets were designed to use generic models that could be bought from any manufacturer.

The first edition rulebook for Warhammer was released in 1983, and the line was supported for thirty years by model releases, supplementary rulebooks, and new editions of the core rules. The eighth and final edition of the core rules was released on 10 July 2010. The game is no longer supported by Games Workshop, and the last supplementary rulebook was released in 2015. It was replaced later that year by Warhammer Age of Sigmar, which uses the models created for the Warhammer line in a new setting and game system.

The Warhammer setting is inspired by the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, Poul Anderson and Michael Moorcock. The fictional background for the game was developed in rulebooks, White Dwarf magazine, Inferno! magazine, and more than 150 novels set in the Warhammer universe. Many of these novels are still in print under the Warhammer Chronicles imprint.

Gameplay
Warhammer is a tabletop wargame where two or more players compete against each other with "armies" of 25 mm – 250 mm tall heroic miniatures. The rules of the game have been published in a series of books which describe how to move miniatures around the game surface and simulate combat in a "balanced and fair" manner. Games may be played on any appropriate surface, although the standard is a 6 by tabletop decorated with model scenery in scale with the miniatures. Any individual miniature or group of similar miniatures in the game is called a "unit".

The core game rules are supplied in a single book, with supplemental Warhammer Armies texts giving guidelines and background for army-specific rules. Movement of units about the playing surface is generally measured in inches, and units' combat performance is dictated randomly by either the roll of a 6-sided die (a 'D6') or a 6-sided 'scatter' die. The latter is often used to generate direction, commonly alongside an 'artillery' die, for cannons, stone-throwers, and other artillery. Each unit and option within the game is assigned a point value for balancing purposes. A game will commonly have armies of 750 to 3,000 points, although smaller and larger values are possible.

The Warhammer world
Warhammer is set in a fictional universe notable for its "dark and gritty" background world, which features influences from Michael Moorcock's Elric stories, and also many historical influences.

The geography of the Warhammer world closely resembles that of Earth because of manipulation by an ancient spacefaring race known as the Old Ones. This mysterious and powerful race visited the Warhammer World in the distant past. Establishing an outpost, they set about manipulating the geography and biosphere of the planet. With the assistance of their Slann servants, they moved the planet's orbit closer to its sun, and arranged the continents to their liking.

To travel between worlds, the Old Ones used portals to another dimension ("warp gates"), which they built at the north and south poles of the Warhammer World. Eventually, however, these gates collapsed, allowing raw magical energy and the daemonic forces of Chaos to pour forth into the Warhammer world. At this point, the Old Ones disappeared. Before leaving however, they had established the Lizard men (ruled over by the Slann) as their servants. In addition they had created the races of Elves, Dwarfs, Humans, Halflings and presumably the Ogres (who are assumed to be an unfinished attempt by the old ones to create the ultimate race). Orcs and Goblins were not created by the Old Ones, or part of their plan, and their origin is not made clear in the setting. Beastmen and Skaven were the result of mutation from raw magical energy at this time. Eventually the Chaos Daemons were driven back by Lizardmen and Elves, with the Elves performing a great ritual to drain out the raw magic that was flowing into the world and sustaining the Daemons. Some creatures, such as Dragons and Dragon-Ogres, are stated to have existed prior to the arrival of the Old Ones.

After this, Elves and Dwarfs flourished and created mighty empires, but eventually they were set into a slow decline. A series of civil wars amongst the Elves split them into two groups – the malicious Dark Elves and righteous High Elves. A petty war between the High Elves and Dwarfs served only to diminish both races and caused the High Elves to abandon their colonies. Some of the colonists refused to leave their homes in a magical sapient forest and over time developed into the enigmatic and isolationist Wood Elves. A period of seismic activity caused by the Slann decimated the underground holds of the Dwarfs while attacks by Skaven and Goblins, who breached the Dwarf strongholds from below, only made things more desperate.

The humans were the slowest to develop, but ultimately formed several strong nations able to defend themselves from aggressors. The Nehekharan Empire (based on Ancient Egypt) was the first great human empire, but due to a curse by Nagash (the first necromancer) they became an undead faction known as the "Tomb Kings" who now dwell in The Land of the Dead (former Nehekhara). Nagash, in his efforts to find eternal life, also created the first Vampires, an entirely separate undead faction.

At the time of the setting's destruction (according to the setting's fictional timeline) there were two prominent human nations: The Empire which is based on a combination of aspects of the Holy Roman Empire and Renaissance Germany, and Bretonnia, which is based on Arthurian legends and medieval France. Sigmar, founder of The Empire, wielded a mighty Dwarf-made Warhammer from which the name of the "Warhammer Fantasy" setting is derived. There are also numerous other nations which are fleshed out in the background information but are not represented by playable factions in the tabletop game, some of which are loosely based on real-world nations from various historical periods. These include the southern realms of Estalia and Tilea, representing medieval Spain and Renaissance Italy respectively, as well as the far eastern Empire of Grand Cathay, analogous to a fantastic version of Imperial China.

The forces of disorder are often depicted as not a localised threat, but a general menace consisting of disparate factions, many of which are typically also at odds with each other. The Skaven exist in an "Under Empire" (an extensive network of tunnels beneath the planet's surface), while the war-loving Orcs and Goblins are nomadic (although they are most common in the Badlands, Southlands, and Dark Lands) and regularly amass large numbers and stage raids without warning. Similarly, Ogres are most common in the Ogre Kingdoms and in the eastern Mountains of Mourn, but are depicted as unscrupulous wandering warriors who are always hungry, who sometimes hire themselves out as mercenaries to both the forces of order and disorder.

In addition to the chaos-worshiping Warriors of Chaos who live in strange Chaos Wastes north of the other faction's lands, chaos cults often arise within human and elven nations. Beastmen are depicted as mutants dwelling deep in forests and impossible to fully eradicate. Vampires and necromancers raising armies of undead are also depicted often as an internal threat. Chaos Daemons are restricted to manifesting themselves where magical energy is strongest, but this could be almost anywhere.

The 8th Edition Empire Army Book describes the Warhammer World to currently be in the year 2522 (Empire calendar), whilst the current Lizardmen Army Book puts the collapse of the warpgates at −5700 on the same calendar, thus the fictional history spans at least 8200 years.

Armies
There are a number of playable armies for Warhammer, which are representative of one or other of the factions or races that are present in the Warhammer world setting. For the first few editions of the game armies were presented in collective books like Warhammer Armies. Starting in the 4th edition individual books were released for each army.

In the 8th edition of the game, the following armies had individual army books:
 * Beastmen
 * Bretonnia
 * Daemons of Chaos
 * Dark Elves
 * Dwarfs
 * The Empire
 * High Elves
 * Lizardmen
 * Ogre Kingdoms
 * Orcs and Goblins
 * Skaven
 * Tomb Kings
 * Vampire Counts
 * Warriors of Chaos
 * Wood Elves

During the 6th edition, the following armies had official rules available from the Games Workshop website, and were usable throughout the 6th and 7th editions. These rules have since been taken down, and they were unplayable in the 8th edition.
 * Chaos Dwarfs: The White Dwarf Presents army book was released during the 4th Edition as a collection of White Dwarf articles, but is still considered an official rule book. An official Chaos Dwarf army list was included in Ravening Hordes at the start of the 6th edition. The army list was included in the reference section of the 7th edition, but has been removed from the 8th edition rulebook. This model line was discontinued at the end of the 5th edition and is no longer supported by the main rules. Forge World released Chaos Dwarf models under their Warhammer Forge line.
 * Dogs of War: The official army book was released during the 5th Edition; Regiments of Renown and Mercenary Army lists for the 6th edition were released on the website. Regardless, some of this line remained available for direct order from Games Workshop as late as 2013.
 * Kislev: The army book was given away free with White Dwarf magazine during the 6th edition. This model line has since been discontinued and is no longer supported.

Armies that were left unsupported prior to the 6th edition:
 * Fimir

Whilst armies would have a typical aesthetic some players would use a method of customisation known as converting, or 'kitbashing'. To convert a model, a player would take parts of other model kits and them it to make aesthetic/cosmetic changes to another model. A kitbash would typically have no effect on rules or gameplay.

Editions
Throughout the eight editions of the game, the core movement, combat and shooting systems remained generally unchanged, with only minor revisions between editions. The most significant changes which ensure incompatibility between editions have been made to the magic, army composition systems, and specialist troop types.

The starter armies in the box sets have grown more detailed with each succeeding generation, and the 7th edition (2006) was the first to be titled as a scenario ("The Battle for Skull Pass") instead of just Warhammer Fantasy Battle. For example, the High Elves have appeared in the 4th edition (1992) and the 8th edition (2010); while the 4th edition only contained Spearmen and Bowmen figures (essentially, just two types of figurines) plus cardboard cutouts for the general and a warmachine, the 8th edition contained a more widely varied army (including cavalry, Sword Masters, mage, and a general mounted on a griffon).

Inspiration
Published in November 1981 for its second edition (1978 for the very first one), and written by Richard Halliwell and Rick Priestley, Reaper is considered the ancestor of Warhammer Fantasy Battle. Reaper is more a skirmish game for up to 30 miniatures rather than a large-scale wargame.

First edition (1983)
The first edition, written by Bryan Ansell, Richard Halliwell and Rick Priestley was published in 1983 as Warhammer The Mass Combat Fantasy Role-Playing Game and consists of a boxed set of 3 black and white books illustrated by Tony Ackland: Vol 1: Tabletop Battles, which contains the core rules, turn sequence, creature lists, potion recipes and features an introductory battle 'The Ziggurat of Doom'. Vol 2: Magic which explains rules for wizards of 4 different levels and the higher order arch magi. Higher level wizards have access to more powerful spells. In this system, a wizard picks his spells at the start of the game, must have the correct equipment (usually Amulets), and as he casts each one it depletes a store of 'constitution' points, until at zero points he could cast no more. Vol 3: Characters introduces 'personal characteristics' statistics, rules for roleplaying (including character advancement through experience points and statistic gains, random encounters, equipment costs, and alignment) and has a sample campaign "The Redwake River Valley".

Very little world background is given at all and the race descriptions are kept to a minimum, and most of the background given is in describing the origins of magic items. Some notable differences to later editions are the inclusion of Night Elves (later Dark Elves), the appearance of Red Goblins – and that Citadel Miniatures order codes are given.

Critical reaction
In the July 1983 edition of White Dwarf, (Issue 43), Joe Dever gave the system a positive review, saying, "If you regularly wargame with miniatures, or have been wondering what additional fun you could have from your rapidly growing collection of fantasy figures, then I recommend you check out Warhammer and let battle commence!"

Chris Hunter reviewed Warhammer for Imagine magazine, and stated that "if you are looking for a mass fantasy combat system, I would recommend Warhammer; but if all you want is a fantasy role-playing game, it would perhaps be better to look elsewhere".

In the May 1984 edition of Dragon (Issue 85), Katherine Kerr was not impressed, and called it "one of the most irritating new games I’ve ever read." She found the manuscript full of typographical errors, and "On top of it all, the authors have a miserable command of the English language. Their prose is even more awkward than the usual low level of gaming writing and is studded with grammatical errors." She found the game system divided between a good combat system and a poor roleplaying system, and called the effort "two separate games with a weak attempt to link them together. The first, a set of rules for tabletop battles with miniature figures, is very good; the second, pieces of a fantasy role-playing game, is embarrassingly bad." In the same issue, Ken Rolston also reviewed Warhammer, and although he agreed that the rules were "hardly a model of English usage or proofreading," they were well-organised and readable. Rolston agreed with Kerr that the miniatures rules were the strong suit of the system, but he also admired the psychology rules that determined how classic fantasy racial types behave towards each other. However, he found the role-playing system to be "primitive".

In the January–February 1985 edition of Space Gamer (Issue No. 72), Edwin J. Rotondaro also thought the system was divided between good miniatures rules and bad roleplaying rules. "Overall, I have to say that Warhammer is a good miniatures game, but a terrible roleplaying game. The system is flexible enough to be used as a mass combat module in most RPGs, but you have to decide whether it's worth [the price] for a set of fantasy miniatures rules."

Expansion
The first edition was extended with Forces of Fantasy boxed set in 1984.

Second edition (1985)
The second edition of Warhammer was released in January of 1985. It split the rules into three rulebooks — Combat, Battle Magic and Battle Bestiary, with full-colour artwork by John Blanche. There were few substantive changes in rules, but major clarifications of the original rules were included. New rules included uses and effects of standards and musicians, flying, fortifications, fire, artillery, chariots, reserve units, specialist spellcasters, and poisons.

This edition also further developed "The Known World", which was geographically and socially based upon Earth.

Critical reaction
Paul Mason reviewed Warhammer II for Imagine magazine, and stated that "All in all, Warhammer is a much improved package, which covers the field of Fantasy Figures Wargaming with simple rules, and yet more comprehensively than virtually any other product."

In the June 1985 edition of White Dwarf (Issue #66), Robert Alcock called the second edition "a predictable expansion of the original", although he noted that this edition had "not ironed out all the problems." Alcock especially disliked the mechanic of "throwing a bucket full of dice to cause casualties and then find that your opponent gets most of them back with a saving throw." However, despite these issues, Alcock concluded that "Warhammer does remain the only viable set of fantasy mass battle rules", and gave the second edition an overall rating of 8 out of 10.

Reviews

 * Jeux & Stratégie #49

Third edition (1987)
The Third Edition of the game was published as a single hardback book in 1987. It had the most in-depth and complex movement and manoeuvre system of any edition. Other changes included a variety of new specialist troop types, rules for war machines and a more finely tuned system of representing heroes and wizards. It kept the same magic system and open-ended army design system as the first two editions. However, by this stage the use of army lists was very much encouraged. Army lists for this edition were published in a separate book called Warhammer Armies in 1988; until then, use of the 2nd Edition's Ravening Hordes list was encouraged. This is partly because it was the last edition published before Games Workshop took a different commercial approach, leading to competition from former GW employees in the briefly published competing Fantasy Warlord.

The third edition was expanded with the Realm of Chaos: tome one, Slaves To Darkness, followed by tome two, The Lost and the Damned; and Warhammer Siege books.

Critical reaction
In Issue 37 of Challenge, Timothy B. Brown commented, "I admire miniatures use in role-playing games, and I feel Warhammer Fantasy Battle, though not futuristic, is a terrific set of rules." Overall, Brown though this game "accomplishes handily what it sets out to do. [...] All the elements are there — monsters, magic, heroic characters — the works. I've never seen as complete a rules set as this one." He concluded, "Can I recommend buying it? Well, yes I can, since I have an interest in all types of gaming. If you’re a science-fiction gamer and that's it, Warhammer Fantasy Battle probably isn't for you. However, if you get the chance to look through it, you might change your mind."

In the February 1989 edition of Dragon (Issue 142), Ken Rolston gave the third edition high praise, saying, "If you’re serious about fantasy tabletop gaming, Warhammer Fantasy Battle (WFB) is probably your only choice. Rolston liked the "fast-paced" rules system and developed fantasy background, and his only reservations were about presentation: "The text is dense and wordy. The wealth of diagrams is good, but their captions aren’t always clear. The abundance of photos, illustrations, and paintings is often visually stimulating, but many of these graphics are of marginal or negligible relevance to the accompanying text. The black-and-white photographic reproduction is surprisingly poor." He concluded with a strong recommendation: "The fantasy campaign setting is simply super. The series of revised editions, supplements, and magazine support articles indicates that Games Workshop is interested in and capable of catering to the gamer’s appetite for new features, refined editions, and elaborated fantasy campaign materials."

4th edition (1992) and 5th edition (1996)
The fourth and fifth editions of the game, released in October 1992 and October 1996, respectively, were similar to each other but quite different from the third. The fifth edition in particular became known pejoratively as "Herohammer" because of the imbalance between the very powerful heroes, monsters and wizards in the game and blocks of troops which existed effectively as cannon fodder. Both editions of the game were sold as box sets containing not only the rulebooks and a variety of other play aids but also sufficient plastic miniatures to be able to play the game "out of the box". The rules underwent a re-write compared to the 3rd Edition. A completely re-worked magic system was produced which was available as a boxed expansion set. Rather than selecting spells they were drawn at random and the magic phase was based on the play of these cards, making magic a bit like a game within a game. The magic system was further expanded by the Arcane Magic box set and the magic element of the Chaos box set.

The fourth edition was also the first edition to enforce the use of army lists in the form of separate Warhammer Army books for the separate racial groupings. These books prescribed for each army a limited number of unit choices; specifying limits on the number of points that could be spent on "characters", troops and monsters and so on. The books also included background on the particular army, illustrations and photographs showing models and have remained with the game though updated with the rules.

The magic system was reworked and re-released in December 1996 as a single box covering the magic for all the armies. The magic was "toned down" (WD204) with spell casting limited to the players' own turn. The multiple card packs of the Colours of Magic system was replaced by 20 Battle Magic spell cards but the Colour Magic spells were in the rule book for players to use if they wanted.

Several boxed campaign packs were produced, Tears of Isha for example, gave a campaign for High Elves and included a card "building" to assemble. Likewise, the Orc and Goblin themed campaign Idol of Gork included card idols of the Orc deities Gork and Mork. The others were Circle of Blood (Vampire Counts vs Bretonnians), Grudge of Drong (Dwarves vs High Elves) and Perilous Quest (Bretonnians vs Wood Elves).

The fourth edition featured High Elves versus Goblins. The fifth edition, released in 1996, re-introduced the Bretonnian forces, which had been left out of the 4th edition, and re-worked the Slann heavily to create the Lizardmen armies.

In 1997, the fifth edition of Warhammer Fantasy Battles won the Origins Award for Best Fantasy or Science Fiction Miniatures Rules of 1996.

Reviews

 * Australian Realms #8
 * Backstab (Issue 1 - Jan/Feb 1997)
 * Magia i Miecz #51 (March 1998) (Polish)

6th edition (2000)
The sixth edition, released in 2000, was also published as a box with soft-cover rulebook and miniatures (Orcs and Empire). The Rulebook was also available for separate sale, hard-cover in the first printing and soft-cover after that. After the fifth edition, this edition put the emphasis back on troop movement and combat: heroes and wizards were still important but became incapable of winning games in their own right. There was also an all-new magic system based on dice rolling.

Reviews

 * Pyramid
 * Backstab #24

7th edition (2006)
The seventh edition rules were released on 9 September 2006. It was available in two forms: as a single hardback rulebook for established gamers and as a complete boxed set game complete with plastic miniatures (Dwarfs and Goblins), The Battle for Skull Pass supplement book and a soft-cover rulebook that has less artwork and background material than the hardback version. The smaller rulebook from the boxed set was approximately half the size of the large book both in size of the cover and page count. The "Basic Rules" and "Advanced Rules" sections of both books were identical in text, layout, illustrations, credits, page numbering and ISBN. The two books had different front pieces and the larger rulebook has two extensive addition sections "The Warhammer World" (68 pages) and "The Warhammer Hobby" (56 pages) plus slightly expanded appendices.

8th edition (2010)
According to the official Games Workshop webpage, the 8th edition of Warhammer was made available for pre-order on 14 June 2010 and was released 10 July 2010.

The new starter set named Island of Blood contained armies of High Elves and Skaven, a condensed mini-rulebook, as well as 10 standard dice, one scatter and one artillery die, two 18 inch rulers, and three blast templates. The High Elf and Skaven miniatures from Island of Blood were reused for the Age of Sigmar set Spire of Dawn.

The Orcs and Goblins, Dwarfs, Wood Elves and Tomb Kings army books were updated for this edition.

The 8th edition was expanded with the Storm of Magic 'supplement' in 2011, featuring rules for using more destructive magic and monsters. The second expansion was release shortly after: Blood in the Badlands, which included some special scenarios and introduced rules for siege warfare. In 2013, Triumph and Treachery (an expansion that allows multi-player games of between 3 and 5 players) and Sigmar's Blood (a 5 scenario short campaign between Empire and Vampire Counts following the crusade led by Volkmar to destroy Mannfred von Carstein) were released. Another series of five books was released in 2014–15, entitled The End Times. This expansion saw the appearance of every major character of the setting. The last book, Archaon, described the end of the Warhammer world at the hand of the book's namesake.

Reviews

 * Casus Belli (v4, Issue 15 - Jun/Jul 2015)

Warhammer: The Old World
Warhammer: The Old World was released on 20 January 2024. While not described by Games Workshop as the 9th edition of Warhammer, Warhammer: The Old World features a base rules system similar to previous Warhammer editions. Nine factions from previous editions return as core factions split over two books, Forces of Fantasy (Empire of Man, Dwarfen Mountain Holds, Kingdom of Bretonnia, Wood Elf Realms, High Elf Realms), and Ravening Hordes (Orc & Goblin Tribes, Warriors of Chaos, Beastmen Brayherds, Tomb Kings of Khemri). Seven other factions (Dark Elves, Skaven, Vampire Counts, Daemons of Chaos, Ogre Kingdoms, Lizardmen, Chaos Dwarfs) received army rules published online, but will not receive any additional support throughout the first edition of the game.

Derivative games
Games based on the core Warhammer mechanics and rules include:

 * Warhammer Ancient Battles (often referred to as "WAB" and sometimes Warhammer Historical). Intended to simulate armies of the real world of the Ancient and Medieval periods.
 * A science fiction based skirmish wargame using similar rules was developed as Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader by Games Workshop and released in 1987. Originally using a minor variation of the 2nd edition Warhammer Fantasy Battle rules, the two games have subsequently taken different development paths. This has since developed into the separate Warhammer 40,000 setting.
 * The first edition of Blood Bowl uses the same basic turn system and character statistics as Warhammer to simulate a fantasy American football game. Rules for ranged combat applied to ball throwing. Since the second edition of Blood Bowl the game has taken its own development path. A card game inspired by the game has also been developed.
 * Games Workshop released a skirmish scale wargame set in the world of Warhammer called Mordheim. It is set in the destroyed city of Mordheim. It uses the same basic rules as the 5th edition of Warhammer, but modified to support activation of individual models in a small gang. It also has a campaign system which you use to improve your warband as they gain experience.
 * The Warhammer Fantasy Battles rules led to Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay in 1986, again using the same statistics, although presented as percentiles rather than 1–10 to give more detail and differentiation between characters than is required in a wargame. In 2005 Black Industries released a second edition, later licensing the rights to Fantasy Flight Games. In 2009 Fantasy Flight Games discontinued active support for the second edition due to the release of the third edition. From 2017, the license was granted to Cubicle 7, who have issued a fourth edition and made publications for the previous editions available in digital format.
 * Dark Heresy (another role-playing game) was released by Black Industries in 2008 using a variation of the 2nd edition of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. The line was transferred to Fantasy Flight Games, which then released Rogue Trader (2009), Deathwatch (2010), Black Crusade (2011), and Only War (2013), each using close variants of the Dark Heresy engine. As of 2019, the license to produce role-playing games in the Warhammer 40,000 setting is held by Cubicle 7.
 * Games Workshop release Judge Dredd: The Role-Playing Game (1985) was clearly derived from the same percentile mechanics as Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay.
 * Inquisitor is a detailed, percentage based miniatures game set in the derivative Warhammer 40K setting. The mechanics fall somewhere between Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 1E and Warhammer 40K.

Games based on the Warhammer setting, but not sharing the rules, include:

 * Warmaster, representing very large-scale, epic battles. Warmaster uses smaller models than Warhammer using 10 mm as opposed to 28 mm, with different rules regarding troop movement and combat.
 * In 1987, GW released a board game Chaos Marauders
 * In 1989, GW released another board game, Advanced HeroQuest
 * In 1993, Games Workshop released a naval wargame set in the world of Warhammer called Man O' War.
 * In 1990, Games Workshop released a strategic wargame of empire building, Mighty Empires, intended both as a stand-alone game and as a way to manage a campaign of miniature battles. This was followed in 1991 by Dragon Masters, an introductory game reusing some Mighty Empires assets in which players take the role of competing Elven princes in Ulthuan.
 * In 1995 the boardgame Warhammer Quest was released. Based upon the Warhammer Fantasy Battle system it shared many of the same combat mechanics as well as the setting, while building upon the previous game Advanced Heroquest. Warhammer Quest was followed by two expansions, Lair of the Orc Lord and Catacombs of Terror, nine Character Packs and several Card Packs.
 * Warhammer Fantasy Battle has been adapted as computer games: the 1995 Warhammer: Shadow of the Horned Rat, its 1998 sequel Warhammer: Dark Omen, Warhammer: Mark of Chaos and the MMORPG, Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning which was released on 18 September 2008.
 * Chaos in the Old World has been released (2009)
 * On 1 October 2011, Games Workshop released the one-off game, Dreadfleet.
 * Fantasy Flight Games' Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 3rd edition is a new game engine not derived from the earlier game mechanics. It was released in 2009.
 * Warhammer Quest card game has been released (2015)
 * Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide is a first-person shooter video game developed and published by Fatshark that was released on 23 October 2015. A sequel titled Warhammer: Vermintide 2 was released on 8 March 2018.
 * Total War: Warhammer is a turn-based strategy real-time tactics video game developed by the Creative Assembly and published by Sega that was released on 24 May 2016. It was followed by a sequel that was released on 28 September 2017. The second sequel, Total War: Warhammer III, was released on 17 February 2022.

title: Warhammer (game)