If you’ve ever come across a binary watch and wondered how to read it, this article is for you. Reading a binary watch may seem complicated, but once you understand the basics, it’s fairly easy.
First, you need to remember four numbers: 1, 2, 4, and 8. These numbers represent the values of each row in the watch. The bottom row is 1, the second row from the bottom is 2, the third row from the bottom is 4, and the fourth row from the bottom is 8.
Next, there are six columns in the watch. Each column represents a number, and there are 6 columns in total because the time format that the binary watch uses is “hour, hour, minute, minute, second, second.”
To calculate the time, you need to read each column from top to bottom. If a light is on in a row, the value of that row is added to the total for that column. If there are no lights on in a row, that row represents the value of 0.
For example, let’s say in the first column, there are no lights on, so the value of that column is 0. In the second column, there is one light on in the first row and one light on in the third row. Since the first row represents 1 and the third row represents 4, you add them up, and the value of that column is 5. In the third column, there is one light on in the third row, so the value of that column is 4. In the fourth column, there are three lights on, one in the first row, one in the second row from the bottom, and one in the third row from the bottom. Since the first row represents 1, the second row from the bottom represents 2, and the third row from the bottom represents 4, you add them up, and the value of that column is 7.
The last two columns represent the seconds, but they’re not as important as the hours and minutes. Once you’ve calculated the time for each column, you have the time displayed on the watch.
It may take some time to get used to reading a binary watch, but with practice, you’ll get the hang of it. If you’re interested, you can also check out a video on how to read ticks clocks, which is a different story altogether.