Colour Accuracy Test.
Compare your display against the 12-hue wheel, saturation ramps, grey ladder and tint swatches to judge hue accuracy and spot an oversaturated mode or a colour cast.
Hue wheel & saturation ramps
Twelve evenly-spaced hues at full saturation. On an accurate panel they look distinct and natural; on an oversaturated one they glow like neon and the steps between neighbours flatten out.
Saturation ramps
Neutral grey fading to full red, green and blue. Look for a smooth, even fade — a ramp that snaps to solid colour partway across is clipping saturation.
Grey neutrality & white balance
Greys are the honest test of white balance: they carry no hue of their own, so any colour you see in them is a cast introduced by the display. Each step below should read as a pure neutral.
Black → white in eight steps. A tinted panel shows a pink, green or blue hint in the mid-greys.
Tint bias
A subtly warm and cool grey either side of neutral. On a balanced screen "Neutral" sits clearly between the two; if it looks like the warm or the cool swatch, your greys lean that way.
If the greys are clearly tinted, nudge the RGB gain or colour-temperature controls in your monitor's menu toward a 6500 K / D65 target until they read neutral. A true, measured calibration needs a colorimeter — this is the eyeball first pass.
How the colour accuracy test works
You can't measure colour accuracy to a number without a colorimeter — but your eyes are excellent at catching gross errors when you give them clean references to compare. This test lays out known-good targets so obvious faults jump out: a cast, an oversaturated mode, a hue that's plainly off.
- 1. Read the hue wheel. Twelve pure hues should look natural and evenly spaced. Neon, glowing blocks mean a "vivid" mode is boosting saturation.
- 2. Check the saturation ramps. Grey-to-colour should fade smoothly; an early jump to solid colour is clipping.
- 3. Judge the greys. Every step of the ladder should be neutral. A warm or cool tint points at white balance.
- 4. Fix in the monitor menu. Switch to sRGB / custom mode and adjust RGB gain toward D65, then re-check. For a certified result, calibrate with hardware.
What your results mean
Compare each reference — hues, ramps, greys and tints — against the rows below to tell accurate colour from a mode or cast that's worth fixing.
| What you see | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Every hue looks distinct and natural, the saturation ramps fade smoothly, and the grey ladder shows no tint | Your panel is accurate and neutral — healthy | Nothing to do. |
| Hues look like glowing neon, and the saturation ramps snap straight to solid colour partway across | An oversaturated "vivid" or "dynamic" picture mode is boosting saturation | Switch the monitor to an sRGB or custom picture mode, then re-check. |
| The grey ladder or the "Neutral" tint swatch looks pink, greenish or blue instead of neutral | A white-balance colour cast | Adjust RGB gain / colour temperature toward 6500 K (D65) in the monitor menu; confirm with the colour test's white and grey fields. |
| The "Neutral" swatch looks the same as the "Warm" or "Cool" swatch instead of sitting between them | Your grey point leans warm or cool | Nudge the colour-temperature slider the opposite way and re-check. |
| One hue on the wheel looks plainly wrong for its position on the wheel | A hue-accuracy error, often from a poor colour profile or panel calibration | Try a different picture mode or profile; for a certified fix, calibrate with a hardware colorimeter. |
Frequently asked questions
What does the colour accuracy test show?
It shows reference colours your eye can judge against: a 12-hue wheel at full saturation, per-channel saturation ramps, an 8-step neutral-grey ladder and warm/neutral/cool tint swatches. Together they reveal gross accuracy problems — a hue that looks clearly wrong, an oversaturated "vivid" mode, early clipping in a saturation ramp, or greys that lean warm or cool.
Can a browser test really measure colour accuracy?
Not to a number. True accuracy is measured in ΔE with a hardware colorimeter against a known target; a screen can only ever show you its own output. What this test does well is expose obvious faults and let you compare settings and modes by eye — spotting a strong cast, a punchy "vivid" preset crushing saturation, or non-neutral greys. For a calibrated ΔE figure you need a colorimeter and software.
How do I check my monitor's white balance and greys?
Use the grey-neutrality ladder and the warm/neutral/cool swatches. On a well-balanced screen every grey step looks like a pure neutral with no colour in it, and the "Neutral" swatch sits visibly between the warm and cool ones. If your greys look pinkish, greenish or blue, adjust the RGB gain / colour-temperature controls in your monitor's menu (aim for a 6500 K / D65 target) until they read neutral.
Why do my colours look oversaturated or too punchy?
Most displays ship in a "vivid", "dynamic" or "standard" mode that boosts saturation beyond the source. On the saturation ramps that shows as the fade jumping quickly to full colour and clipping, and on the hue wheel as neon, glowing blocks. Switch to a "sRGB", "custom" or "calibrated" picture mode and the ramps should fade smoothly and the hues look more natural.
How is this different from the colour test?
The colour test floods the screen with 6 pure primaries and secondaries — fast for spotting a tint or a dead channel. This accuracy test is finer and comparative: 12 hues instead of 6, plus saturation ramps, grey neutrality and tint bias, so it is aimed at judging how correct and neutral the colours are rather than just whether each field displays.
What hex value should I type into the custom colour box to test a specific shade?
Any standard 6-digit hex code, with or without the leading #, such as 3366FF for a mid blue. Type or paste it into the field (or pick visually with the colour wheel) and press Test to flood the screen with that exact colour full screen — handy for checking a brand colour, a suspicious pixel you found elsewhere, or matching a shade from a photo or design file against your panel.