Formula to determine brightness of RGB color

Question

I\'m looking for some kind of formula or algorithm to determine the brightness of a color given the RGB values. I know it can\'t be as simple as adding the RGB values toget

Answer 1

This link explains everything in depth, including why those multiplier constants exist before the R, G and B values.

Edit: It has an explanation to one of the answers here too (0.299*R + 0.587*G + 0.114*B)