The transition from CRTs to LCDs didn't happen at the flick of a switch, it happened gradually. The signals between the computer and the display remained the sa

The transition from CRTs to LCDs didn't happen at the flick of a switch, it happened gradually. The signals between the computer and the display remained the same, based on standards maintaining backward compatibility. I don't know if gamma was a happy accident or a result of clever engineering, but it has a benefit even today. The eye's response to light is not linear, and a gamma-corrected signal has nearly even steps of brightness between each of the 256 levels. A linear signal does not, and would require more bits for an acceptable display.