England and Chelsea defender Terry, 31, is accused of calling Ferdinand a "f****** black c***" during a Premier League match last October.
The Queens Park Ranger player Ferdinand told Westminster Magistrates' Court that initially he did not think any racist terms had been used.
But after the match his girlfriend at the time played him a YouTube clip, and he became convinced that one had.
Ferdinand told the court that if he had realised at the time he would have told officials.
He said: "I would have been obviously very hurt and I probably wouldn't have reacted at the time because, being a professional, you can't do that. I probably would have let the officials know what happened and dealt with it after the game. When someone brings your colour into it, it takes it to another level and it's very hurtful."
Chelsea were down to nine men in the clash at Loftus Road on October 23, and Ferdinand and Terry began trading insults over a penalty claim, the court heard.
After the match, Chelsea left-back Ashley Cole told Ferdinand: "You can't talk to JT like that."
Terry then met Ferdinand to ask what had happened. He agreed it was just "handbags", and "banter", the court heard. However, when he later viewed film footage of the incident, he believed a racist term had been used.
Terry is accused of a racially aggravated public order offence, which he denies. He maintains that he was only sarcastically repeating what Ferdinand wrongly thought he had said.
Source: PA
Source: PA