GMK Colors to RGB: KLE / Rgb.to / GMK colors Wiki

[chameleon]

Hi!

I'm converting some GMK hex codes from KLE to RGB. When I enter the KLE code into the website rgb.to I get a different RBG values than the GMK colors Wiki: https://deskthority.net/wiki/GMK_colours.

For example, the KLE Hex for GMK color U9 is #aca693. When I convert this using https://rgb.to/hex/aca693 the RGB value is 172, 166, 147. When I look up color U9 on the wiki https://deskthority.net/wiki/GMK_colours the RBG value is 185, 186, 180.

Does anyone know which RGB is correct, and why this is happening with the Hex from KLE.

Thanks!

[iaman]

I mean, technically no RGB is correct as your screen is not going to accurately reproduce a color produced by a subtractive color model that will be affected by all sorts of things like lighting.

KLE as it stands has HEX values sampled from photos taken very carefully under controlled lighting conditions, whereas the wiki seems to have values taken from an earlier version of that approach that had less of a controlled condition. You should probably use what KLE currently gives you.

[tex_live_utility]

I mean, technically no RGB is correct as your screen is not going to accurately reproduce a color produced by a subtractive color model that will be affected by all sorts of things like lighting.

KLE as it stands has HEX values sampled from photos taken very carefully under controlled lighting conditions, whereas the wiki seems to have values taken from an earlier version of that approach that had less of a controlled condition. You should probably use what KLE currently gives you.

So if KLE colors seem "off", it's probably due to a combination of your monitor being uncalibrated and the browser rendering them improperly?

[iaman]

I mean, technically no RGB is correct as your screen is not going to accurately reproduce a color produced by a subtractive color model that will be affected by all sorts of things like lighting.

KLE as it stands has HEX values sampled from photos taken very carefully under controlled lighting conditions, whereas the wiki seems to have values taken from an earlier version of that approach that had less of a controlled condition. You should probably use what KLE currently gives you.

So if KLE colors seem "off", it's probably due to a combination of your monitor being uncalibrated and the browser rendering them improperly?

To clarify, the wiki hasn't had that page updated since 2013 and those RGB values were sourced from KLE. Sometime in 2016 GMK provided a better image taken under more controlled and neutral lighting conditions and KLE updated its RGB values based on that. Either way, the RGB values you use likely will not result in a rendering that looks entirely "correct" if you hold a sample keycap up to your screen.

It's not that your screen isn't rendering things correctly, per se; your screen uses an additive color model to reproduce colors and the keycaps are physical objects that reflect all of the light that hits them outside of the specific wavelengths of light that they absorb. The two things produce color in completely opposite ways, so the calibration of your screen and the lighting conditions under which you view the keycap both introduce ways in which your experience of them can differ.

[nevin]

@iaman - well stated!