Natural Color System (NCS) June 28, 2008
Posted by admin in : Colour Chart , trackbackI get countless enquiries on colours. Last week, there was a search on this site for the colour S2060-R20B. Let me use this opportunity to explain this particular colour notation and the colour system it originates from.
I’ve mentioned in the past the BS or British Standards colour system and the RAL colour system from Germany (see post). Now, I would like to introduce another widely used colour system - the Natural Color System or NCS. NCS is developed by the Scandinavian Colour Institute AB (www.ncscolour.com). There are 1750 colours in the current NCS Index Edition 2.
Like the BS and the RAL systems, NCS is developed for the ease and efficient communication of colours. This simple statement understates the importance of such a colour system. It is an almost indispensable tool of communication. For example, if you need to specify a colour for a product made half way round the world, naming conventions like ‘Grass Green’ or ‘Sky Blue’ would not do. Grass may be greener on the other side (pun intended) and sky may not be blue in some places. Besides, there are thousands of shades of blue or green. Ambiguity in such conventions can lead to complaints, loss of confidence and even litigations. Colour systems allow for the use of a set of alpha-numerics to communicate colours. All uncertainties removed.
A bit more background to the NCS. The 2nd Edition of NCS was launched in 1995, based on 60 years of research by the Scandinavian Colour Institute AB. Unlike the BS and the RAL systems, the NCS colour notation is self-explanatory. Lets go into its notation, using S2060-R20B as an example :
This is how it works:
The NCS notation is based on the similarity between the colour in question and the 6 elementary colours - Red, Green, Blue, Yellow, Black and White. The 1st letter ‘S’ denotes the use of the 2nd edition. The next 4 letters indicates nuances. In this case, ‘20′ indicates the colours resemblance to black and ‘60′ indicates its degree of chromaticness. ‘2060′ therefore tells us that this colour has 20% ‘blackness’ and 60% ‘chromaticness’.
The next 4 alphanumeric describes the colour’s hue - how it resembles the 2 elementary colours shown by the 2 letters. In this case, ‘R20B’ means the colour has 20% ‘blueness’ and 80% ‘redness’.
Pure greys do not have hue and is notated by its nuances and a letter ‘N’. White is ‘S0500-N’, while black is ‘S9000-N’. ‘S1000-N’, ‘S1500-N’ and ‘S2000-N’ are gradations of pure grey.
Currently, in paint products, Jotun utilises NCS in its tinting machines. In the past, ICI Colour Dimension also made use of NCS. But a number of years ago, ICI switched to the Master Palette Color System. The notation is different, eg.
50YY 77/285
From my internet search, I found a great site that provides an online viewer of NCS colours. The site is created by Robert Karlsson of i2 Studios. It lets you key in the NCS colour notation and shows you onscreen the colour entered. Do note that all colours produced online will vary according to the colour settings of your display unit, and serves only as a guide. Go to:
Hope the above article helps you understand a bit more about this particular colour system.
Please feel free to leave your questions or comments by clicking here.
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