# Do the colors black and white come in different shades, or are they absolutes?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-colors-black-and-white-come-in-different-shades-or-are-they-absolutes/551287>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [August 24, 2010, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-colors-black-and-white-come-in-different-shades-or-are-they-absolutes/551287 "2010-08-24T13:52:31Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2010, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-colors-black-and-white-come-in-different-shades-or-are-they-absolutes/551287/1 "2010-08-24T13:52:31Z")

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I got to thinking about names of colors, and I wondered if there is only one shade of black or white and the different names used for them are describing the same colors, or are there different shades of these colors?

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**Author:** ![Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimmy_Gibbler)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2010, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-colors-black-and-white-come-in-different-shades-or-are-they-absolutes/551287/2 "2010-08-24T14:16:47Z")

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You mean like the various shades of gray?

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**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2010, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-colors-black-and-white-come-in-different-shades-or-are-they-absolutes/551287/3 "2010-08-24T14:23:50Z")

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Theoretically, they’re absolutes.

Practically, there are are various shades.

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**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2010, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-colors-black-and-white-come-in-different-shades-or-are-they-absolutes/551287/4 "2010-08-24T14:31:32Z")

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> [@amarinth](#):
>
> Theoretically, they’re absolutes.
> 
> Practically, there are are various shades.

Practically: Go to any store that sells house paint. Especially the Interior shades. You will find _many_ blacks & whites!

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**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2010, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-colors-black-and-white-come-in-different-shades-or-are-they-absolutes/551287/5 "2010-08-24T15:30:48Z")

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> [@Bridget\_Burke](#):
>
> Practically: Go to any store that sells house paint. Especially the Interior shades. You will find _many_ blacks & whites!

Bingo. I remember once trying to decide between “White,” “White White,” and “White on White.”

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**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2010, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-colors-black-and-white-come-in-different-shades-or-are-they-absolutes/551287/6 "2010-08-24T17:08:14Z")

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There’s another side to this. If you’re talking about the color of an object because of the light it reflects, then there would be an ideal black that reflected nothing and an ideal white that reflected everything. But, if you are talking about the color of something that actually creates light, like the color of a light bulb or a neon sign, then while black is still uniquely defined, white would always have some surface brightness, and there wouldn’t be any one special version of it.

Another point: when talking about chromaticity, there are various versions of white, and no one single magical reason to prefer one over all the others, though there are various special properties of some of them.