By Mark Kotterink, director of the Dutch Colour Institute (SNKI) · Published 21 October 2026 · Updated 21 October 2026

Choosing white with NCS: the best-known white and off-white codes

The short answer

Pure white is S 0300-N or S 0500-N. Off-white has 1–2% chromaticness, such as S 0502-Y (warm) or S 0502-B (cool). Always choose on a physical sample.

Colours with low chromaticness, whites among them, are according to NCS Colour a constant among the best-selling colours. They are also the hardest to choose. NCS has dozens of whites that look alike at first glance. The code tells you exactly how they differ: how much black, how much colour and which way the colour leans.

How to read a white NCS code

An NCS code consists of a nuance and a hue. In S 0502-Y, 05 stands for 5% blackness (s) and 02 for 2% chromaticness (c). What remains is whiteness (w): 100 − 5 − 2 = 93%. The letter Y is the hue: yellow. The lower the blackness and chromaticness, the whiter the colour.

sBlackness: how grey or dark the white looks. For whites usually between 3 and 10.

cChromaticness: how strong the tint is. For whites between 0 and about 5.

wWhiteness: what remains, 100 − s − c. This number is not in the code.

NNeutral: no hue. A pure white, grey or black.

Y20RHue: yellow with 20% red. Y, R, B and G stand for yellow, red, blue and green.

Pure white: the neutral series

Neutral whites have zero chromaticness and their code ends in -N. They have no tint. That is why they go with almost everything and are often chosen for ceilings, window frames and clean-lined interiors.

S 0300-N is the lightest neutral colour in the NCS collection: 3% blackness and 97% whiteness. S 0500-N has 5% blackness and looks just slightly less bright next to it. With S 1000-N, at 10% blackness, you already see a light grey haze next to the other two.

Off-white: warm or cool

Off-whites have a small chromaticness, usually 1 to 5%. That small value changes the atmosphere a great deal. The hue decides whether a white feels warm or cool. Warm whites with 2% chromaticness:

Cool whites with 2% chromaticness:

Whites in the hues Y to Y50R feel warm and soft. They suit wood, natural stone and warm light. Whites towards G, B or R50B feel cool and fresh. They suit concrete, steel and glass. A white with hue R takes on a faint pink tint.

Two new white nuances since 2022When the collection grew to 2050 colours, NCS Colour added the nuances 0601 and 1001, such as S 0601-Y and S 1001-Y. According to NCS, they correspond to best-selling whites that used to fall outside the standard collection. With 1% chromaticness they sit between pure white and off-white.

More black or more colour

If you want a white that is less stark, you have two dials. More blackness makes the white greyer and calmer. More chromaticness makes the tint stronger. Compare three whites in the same hue:

S 1002-Y has 10% blackness instead of 5% and looks duller. S 0505-Y has 5% chromaticness instead of 2% and looks clearly cream. This lets you compare whites on paper: within the same hue, higher numbers mean a less white result.

Light and surface change every white

North light is cool and even. A cool white can look cold there; a warm white compensates.
South light and direct sunlight are warmer. A warm white can look yellow there.
Artificial light counts too. Warm white light (around 2700 K) makes whites look yellower than neutral light (around 4000 K).
The surroundings add colour. A green garden or a red floor reflects colour onto the wall.
A large surface looks lighter, and its tint stronger, than a small sample.
Gloss and texture matter. High gloss reflects the surroundings; a textured wall catches shadow and looks darker.

A ceiling receives less direct light than a wall and therefore looks greyer. That is why a white with less blackness is often chosen for the ceiling than for the walls.

Why you need a physical sample

Between S 0500-N and S 0502-Y lies 2% chromaticness. A screen or printer cannot show such a difference reliably; every screen shows white differently. So judge whites on an original NCS colour sample, in the place where the colour will go.

Place two or three candidates side by side against the wall.
Look at different times of day and under artificial light as well.
Choose a large format, such as A4, for walls and ceilings.
Hold the sample next to window frames, floor and furniture too.

Do you often work with whites and greys? The NCS WS 160 is a fan deck with 160 white, grey and near-black NCS colours with chromaticness 00 to 05, on large samples of 140 × 47 mm. The NCS Index 2050 has a separate section for white, grey and black.

The whites in this article

View each colour on its own page and order it as a loose colour sample, from A9 to A4:

Frequently asked questions

What is the whitest white in NCS?

S 0300-N: 3% blackness, 0% chromaticness and therefore 97% whiteness. It is the lightest neutral colour in the standard collection. S 0500-N, with 5% blackness, looks slightly less bright next to it.

What is the difference between pure white and off-white?

Pure white has no chromaticness; the code ends in -N. Off-white has a small chromaticness, usually 1 to 5%, or slightly more blackness. An example is S 0502-Y: 5% blackness and 2% chromaticness with a yellow hue.

Is S 0502-Y a warm or a cool white?

A warm white. The hue Y (yellow) gives a soft, warm tint. Cool counterparts with the same nuance are S 0502-G and S 0502-B. How strongly you see the tint depends on the light in the room.

Why does my white wall look different from the sample?

Because of the light, the size of the surface, the gloss level and the surroundings. A large surface shows the tint more strongly than a small sample. Artificial light and reflections from the floor or garden add colour. So judge the sample on the wall itself, in daylight and under artificial light.

Which fan deck do I need to choose whites?

The NCS Index 2050 contains all 2050 standard colours, with a separate section for white, grey and black. If you mainly work with whites and greys, the NCS WS 160 offers larger samples of exactly those colours: 160 colours with chromaticness 00 to 05.

Choose your white on a real sampleOrder the whites you are considering as original NCS colour samples, from A9 to A4, and judge them on site.

Order colour samples View the NCS WS 160

Mark Kotterink, director of SNKI. Colour expert, lecturer and researcher with 35 years of experience in colour technology and colour application.

Read on

What is an NCS colour code? →Identifying an NCS colour in five steps →Light reflectance value (LRV) explained →Neutral NCS colour samples (N series) →