How to Read a Binary Clock in Under a Minute
Six columns, four dots each, one rule: 8-4-2-1. Here's the whole method, with a worked example against a real clock.
A binary clock looks intimidating for about thirty seconds, and then it isn't. The whole method is one rule, applied six times.
The rule: 8-4-2-1
Each column of four dots represents one decimal digit, read top to bottom against the values 8, 4, 2, and 1. A lit dot means you add that value; an unlit dot means you don't. Add up whichever dots are lit in a column, and that sum is the digit.
A worked example
Say a column has its top dot lit, the next two unlit, and the bottom dot lit. That's 8 + 0 + 0 + 1 = 9. A column with only the second-from- top dot lit is just 4. An entirely unlit column is 0 — every value adds to nothing.
Putting six columns together
The clock shows six columns in a row: hour tens, hour ones, minute tens, minute ones, second tens, second ones. Read each pair together and you get HH, MM, and SS, same as any other digital clock — just arrived at one column at a time instead of printed as a font.
The fastest way to actually learn it is to leave the binary clock open somewhere you glance at anyway. You already know what time it is most of those glances, which makes it a free answer key.