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Half-Precision Floating-Point, Visualized

Tool Intermediate

Ricky Reusser

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Description

Half-Precision Floating-Point, Visualized is Ricky Reusser's interactive Observable notebook at observablehq.com/@rreusser/half-precision-floating-point-visualized. It explains IEEE 754 binary16 with live plots instead of static slides.

Cells walk exponent and mantissa fields, show where values cluster on the number line, and contrast fp16 precision and range against fp32. You can explore rounding, subnormals, and unstable regions relevant to half buffers in mobile GLES or mediump paths.

Intermediate graphics programmers choosing storage formats for normals, UVs, or G-buffer channels benefit most. Basic float literacy helps; only a modern browser is required.

Observable supports forking and embedding, fitting Reusser's wider visual math explainers for shader work.

Moderately cited among shader authors discussing precision trade-offs, though narrower than a full numerics course.