# Are there different shades of black? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 3, 2005, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-different-shades-of-black/310923 "2005-07-03T16:44:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2005, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-different-shades-of-black/310923/21 "2005-07-03T19:44:38Z")
Technically, there is only one shade of black and one shade of white. But in practice, the human eye fails to distinguish between extremely pale shades of gray and various colors and white, and extremely dark shades of gray and various colors (especially green, for some reason) and black. So yes, sort of. Also notice that in practice, things like luminance apply: flat black vs. glossy black, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2005, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-different-shades-of-black/310923/22 "2005-07-03T20:04:48Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > Technically, there is only one shade of black and one shade of white. But in practice, the human eye fails to distinguish between extremely pale shades of gray and various colors and white, and extremely dark shades of gray and various colors (especially green, for some reason) and black. I wouldn’t say that the human eye fails to distinguish between them - we can tell that these various shades/hues are different. However, we _call_ those colors that are very close to true black “black,” and colors that are very close to true white “white.” It’s a matter of language, rather than the physical properties of the colors. We call a wide range of colors “red,” although we may distiguish between variants with more specific names. In the same way, a range of colors are called black, even though they clearly differ. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman97](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/57b2e6/32.png) [@wolfman97](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman97)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2005, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-different-shades-of-black/310923/23 "2005-07-03T20:07:50Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Lots of shades of white. But I’ve never heard of a shade of black. Why is that? If you take a class in oil painting, the instructor will often take away your black paint to make you realize that there are many different ways to create the perception of black. Whether anything other than the interior of a sealed box is really “black” is usually a matter of perception. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2005, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-different-shades-of-black/310923/24 "2005-07-03T20:51:07Z")
It’s like, how much more black could this be? and the answer is none. None more black. ---
**Author:** ![Bob\_Scene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Bob\_Scene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob_Scene)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2005, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-different-shades-of-black/310923/25 "2005-07-03T21:44:17Z")
Until recently I had a job where I was making custom colors of concrete for people. I made a **lot** of shades of black\*. Different shades of black can be hard to match in concrete because the black pigment you use overpowers any other color. If your bluest shade of black pigment isn’t blue enough, it really isn’t practical to add a bunch of expensive blue pigment to it. \*Technically, they weren’t really black, of course, because they didn’t absorb all the light that hit them, but anyone who looked at them would have called them black. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2005, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-different-shades-of-black/310923/26 "2005-07-03T23:17:47Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > Yes, but the differnces you’re seeing are how light bounces off the paper or other object. You’ll notice that matte paper is not as smooth as glossy. But yes, I think we both understand the issue here. Well sure. Isn’t all sight a function of how light bounces off the object? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2005, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-different-shades-of-black/310923/27 "2005-07-03T23:23:57Z")
> [@rfgdxm](#): > > I say black is black, and that is it. Still want your baby back? ---
**Author:** ![Amaranta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Amaranta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amaranta)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2005, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-different-shades-of-black/310923/28 "2005-07-04T00:01:36Z")
I know when buying mascara, one brand will have shades like “black black”, “true black”, “very black”, “intense black”, and so on. I’ve never found a difference between them. Err, that didn’t really add much, did it? Sorry. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-different-shades-of-black/310923.md?page=1)