Question 1

Calculate Lightness (L):

Accepted Answer

The formula is $(Cmax + Cmin) / 2$. 
$L = (0.859 + 0.204) / 2 = 1.063 / 2 = 0.5315$. Multiply by 100 to get a percentage: 53.2%.

Question 2

Calculate Saturation (S):

Accepted Answer

If $\Delta$ is 0, saturation is 0. Otherwise, the formula is $\Delta / (1 - |2L - 1|)$.
$2L - 1 = 2(0.5315) - 1 = 1.063 - 1 = 0.063$. The absolute value is $0.063$.
$1 - 0.063 = 0.937$.
$S = 0.655 / 0.937 = 0.699$. Multiply by 100 to get a percentage: 69.9%.

Question 3

Calculate Hue (H):

Accepted Answer

The formula depends on which color channel was $Cmax$. Since Blue was our $Cmax$, the formula is $60 	imes (((R' - G') / \Delta) + 4)$.
$H = 60 	imes (((0.204 - 0.596) / 0.655) + 4)$
$H = 60 	imes ((-0.392 / 0.655) + 4)$
$H = 60 	imes (-0.598 + 4) = 60 	imes 3.402 = 204.1$ degrees.
Rounding to the nearest whole numbers, our final converted value is HSL(204, 70%, 53%). A computer can execute this math millions of times per second.

Question 4

What is the difference between HEX and RGB?

Accepted Answer

HEX and RGB are not actually different colors; they are simply different languages used to describe the exact same thing. RGB uses base-10 decimal numbers (from 0 to 255) to describe the intensity of Red, Green, and Blue light. HEX uses base-16 alphanumeric characters (from 00 to FF) to describe those exact same intensities in a shorter, more compact string. Browsers process both identically, but HEX is generally preferred in codebases because it requires fewer keystrokes and is easier to copy and paste as a single string of text.

Question 5

Can every RGB color be converted to CMYK?

Accepted Answer

No, absolutely not. The RGB color model is based on emitting light and has a very wide gamut, allowing for extremely bright, neon, and highly saturated colors. CMYK is based on physical ink absorbing light on paper, which has a much narrower gamut. When you convert a bright neon green from RGB to CMYK, the conversion algorithm simply has to guess the closest possible dull, printable green. You will always lose vibrancy when converting from digital light to physical ink.

Question 6

What does the "A" stand for in RGBA and HSLA?

Accepted Answer

The "A" stands for Alpha, which represents the alpha channel or opacity of the color. It dictates how transparent the color is, allowing background elements to show through. The alpha value is mathematically represented as a decimal between 0.0 (completely invisible/transparent) and 1.0 (completely solid/opaque). For example, an alpha of 0.5 means the color is exactly 50% transparent.

Question 7

Why do my HSL colors look different than my HSV/HSB colors?

Accepted Answer

HSL (Lightness) and HSV/HSB (Value/Brightness) use completely different mathematical cylinders to calculate their vertical axis. In HSL, a Lightness of 50% is the pure, most vibrant version of the color, and 100% is always pure white. In HSV, a Value of 100% is the pure, most vibrant version of the color, and you only get white if you also drop the Saturation to 0%. Plugging HSV numbers into a CSS HSL function will result in drastically incorrect, overly bright colors.

Question 8

What is an 8-digit HEX code?

Accepted Answer

A standard HEX code has 6 digits (three pairs for Red, Green, and Blue). An 8-digit HEX code simply adds a fourth pair of alphanumeric characters to the end to represent the Alpha (transparency) channel. For example, in the code #FF000080, the FF0000 represents pure red, and the 80 represents roughly 50% opacity (since 80 in base-16 equals 128 in base-10, which is half of 255). This allows developers to pass both color and transparency in a single, compact string.

Question 9

Why are newer color spaces like OKLCH becoming popular?

Accepted Answer

Older models like HSL are not "perceptually uniform." In HSL, if you set a Yellow and a Blue to 50% Lightness, the Yellow will appear massively brighter to the human eye than the Blue, even though the math says they are equal. Modern color spaces like OKLCH fix this biological quirk. In OKLCH, a 50% lightness value will look exactly as bright to the human eye regardless of whether the hue is yellow, blue, red, or green, making it vastly superior for creating accessible, harmonious color palettes.

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