What is the NCS Color Identification System?
The NCS system is scientifically based on the way humans perceive colors.
It is an intuitive and logical system to easily communicate and combine colors.
The NCS system is scientifically based on visual color perception. It has become the world's leading notation system. It is easy to understand and use, and independent of the type of material being studied.
NCS - Natural Colour System®© is a visual colour language based on the way we perceive colour.
The six pure colors on which the human ability to characterize the different colors is based are: white (W), black (S), yellow (Y), red (R), blue (B) and green (G).
Our NCS tile finder by color
On our website, you can search for ceramic tiles by color. Simply enter the approximate color of the tile you are looking for and let the magic work. We will show you a selection of ceramic tiles with colours close to the one you have searched for, assigned according to the NCS colour system.
How are NCS colors identified?
NCS designations make it easy to decipher color characteristics. NCS color notation is an accurate visual description of color.
Let's take a look at this notation of color:
NCS notation describes the similarity of color to two or more of the six elemental colors.
In the NCS S 1070-Y10R notation, the first four digits (1070) represent the shade of the color. This means that the percentage of darkness (S) is 10% and the percentage of chromaticity (C) is 70%. Of the maximum (100), 20% remains, which represents the whiteness of the color: 100 - (10+70) = 20
The Y10R shade describes the percentage similarity of the color with the two elementary chromatic colors; in this case, yellow (Y) and red (R). As we always read from yellow to red (like clockwork), the Y10R shade means a yellow color with 10% reddish and 90% yellowish.
Pure gray colors have no tint and are only defined by their hue. For example, the color NCS 0400-N is a gradient white color, followed by S 0500-N, S 1000-N, S 1500-N, etc. up to S 9000-N, which is a black color.
An S in front of the full NCS designation (e.g. S 2030-Y90R) means that the sample in question belongs to the NCS Edition 2 standard collection.
NCS Color Space
This three-dimensional representation, called the NCS color space, contains every conceivable flat color. Therefore, each color has an NCS description. To facilitate representation, this double cone is divided into two two-dimensional models: the NCS color wheel and the NCS color triangle.
The NCS color wheel
The NCS color wheel is a horizontal cut in the center of the NCS color space, where the four elementary colors Y, R, B, G are located as the four cardinal points of a compass. Each quadrant between two elemental colors, for example Y and R, is subdivided into 10 intervals. On the NCS color wheel shown above, the shade Y90R is indicated, i.e. yellow (Y) with 90% red (R).
The NCS Colour Triangle
The NCS color triangle is a vertical cut of the NCS color space. The base of the triangle is the grayscale, from white (W) to black (S) and, on the right, the maximum chromaticity (C) of the tone in question; in this case, Y90R. Colors of the same shade can vary in darkness and chromaticity, i.e., have different shades. NCS color triangles show these tone variations, where the scales are also subdivided into intervals of 100. The example above shows the shade 1050. The example above shows shade 1050: a color with 10% darkness and 50% chromaticity.
Neutral colors: grayscale, white, and black
The chromatic space is divided into 6 basic colors, as we have already said, divided into two subgroups, the achromatic colors, which include black and white, and the chromatic colors.
Achromatic colors are those that are found at the two ends of the central axis of the chromatic space, which is the grayscale. The whiteness W (white) is at the top end and the darkness S (Svart, black in Swedish) is at the top end and indicates the percentage of darkness of each color.
So, if a color is at the top of the scale, it has more white and less black, and if the color is at the bottom of the scale, it has more black and less white.
The purest white color, according to NCS color theory, is the color NCS S0300-N, and the nivel of darkness increases as you go down the grayscale until you reach the lowest point with the color NCS S 9000-N, which corresponds to the color black.
With this knowledge we can see that the chromatic family that includes the achromatic colors -grayscale, black and white- is the Neutra family, represented in the notation by the letter N. Therefore, pure gray colors -achromatic- have no hue and are defined only by the hue.
White: NCS S 0300-N White NCS is a color of 3% darkness, 0% chromaticity – the achromatic color – and the neutral N color family.
Black: NCS S 9000-N The black is NCS S 9000-N, with 90% darkness, 0% chromaticity and the N family of neutral colors.
Grayscale. The intermediate colors between NCS S 0300-N white and NCS S 9000-N black make up the grayscale with different percentages of darkness.
In addition, as an anecdote, it can be observed that there is no pure black or pure white, since this would represent the total absence of black with 0%, or the total absence of black with 100%. The fact that they are not presented as 0% or 100% is due to the fact that there is no color that does not have a little white or black, even if it is the darkest possible color, even if it is a small part, it has a little white. And the opposite happens with white and the presence of black in it.
How do I get NCS color ratings for ceramic tiles?
To obtain each of the colours of a tile, we process the different shades using a small digital optical device (Colourpin SE) with which we obtain the NCS colour which, connected by Bluetooth to a tablet, shows us on the screen the colour obtained at each point of the tile we have chosen.
It is a laborious process, but we believe it is important that it serves as a model and tool for our interior designers and decorators.
This will make it easier to choose the decorative tones of a room reliably and to be able to play with them when decorating our homes.
