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I am trying to generate a blue-cyan-green-yellow-red color gradient that is linear in Hue. The code

ContourPlot[x, {x, 0, 1}, {y, 0, 1}, ContourStyle -> None, 
ColorFunction -> Function[{x, y}, Hue[2/3*(1 - x)]], 
ColorFunctionScaling -> False, AspectRatio -> 0.125, 
ImageSize -> 840]

gives

ContoursDefault
(source: ucdavis.edu)

which seems okay. However, adding the option Contours -> 500 to the above, i.e., evaluating

ContourPlot[x, {x, 0, 1}, {y, 0, 1}, Contours -> 500, 
ContourStyle -> None, 
ColorFunction -> Function[{x, y}, Hue[2/3*(1 - x)]], 
ColorFunctionScaling -> False, AspectRatio -> 0.125, 
ImageSize -> 840]

produces

Contours500
(source: ucdavis.edu)

By trying different numbers for Contours, I can reduce the odd artifact at the red end of this gradient. But I suspect I am missing something. Any suggestions? Thanks a lot.

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  • $\begingroup$ This doesn't seem to have anything to do with the custom ColorFunction, but with whatever internal function decides on the contour levels. Just look at the output from ContourPlot[x, {x, 0, 1}, {y, 0, 1}, Contours -> 60].... $\endgroup$
    – Jason B.
    Commented Jun 27, 2016 at 19:31
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ I see this bug as far back as version 9, as well as the current versions. A workaround is to supply the contour levels manually, via something like Contours -> Subdivide[500] $\endgroup$
    – Jason B.
    Commented Jun 27, 2016 at 19:33
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    $\begingroup$ So you would think that the contour levels chosen automatically would correspond to (1.0/61 Range[60]) when Contours -> 60 is chosen. But instead, the contours correspond to Round[1/61, .001] Range[60]...... Bug report filed $\endgroup$
    – Jason B.
    Commented Jun 27, 2016 at 20:08
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ my eyes must be going.. what artifact are we supposed to see here? $\endgroup$
    – george2079
    Commented Jun 27, 2016 at 20:25
  • 3
    $\begingroup$ @george2079. The solid-color red rectangle on the right side of the second image. The colors aren't continuous there. (It actually is pretty subtle.) $\endgroup$
    – march
    Commented Jun 27, 2016 at 20:26

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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It is easy to see what is happening if you leave out ContourStyle -> None. For some reason ContourPlot does not automatically select contours near to maximum value in the plot. Some Contour values are worse than others in this regard. A solution is to specify contours manually.

ContourPlot[x, {x, 0, 1}, {y, 0, 1}
 , ColorFunction -> Function[{x, y}, Hue[2/3*(1 - x)]]
 , ColorFunctionScaling -> False
 , AspectRatio -> 0.125
 , ImageSize -> 640
 , Contours -> #
] & /@ {76, Subdivide[1, 76]} // Column

enter image description here

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