Both black and dark brown are very dark shades, so it can be hard to tell which one is darker just by looking. In this article, we’ll examine the definitions of black, dark brown and other related colors, look at how color darkness is measured, and determine once and for all whether black or dark brown is the darker shade.
Defining Black, Brown, and Dark Brown
To understand which color is darker, we first need to define exactly what we mean by “black”, “brown”, and “dark brown.”
Black is defined as the darkest possible shade. It absorbs all wavelengths of visible light and reflects none back to the eye, creating the appearance of an absence of color.
On the color wheel, black sits at zero degrees hue, zero percent saturation, and zero percent brightness. It has no nuance or variation – black is black.
Brown is a darker tertiary color produced by mixing the primary colors red, yellow, and blue. Brown sits between red and yellow on the color wheel. It has some variation in shade, encompassing lighter tans and beiges to almost-black dark browns.
Dark brown is a very deep shade of brown that approaches black but still maintains some brown character. It reflects only a tiny amount of red and yellow light back to the eye while absorbing most other wavelengths. Dark brown has slightly more red-yellow undertone than black.
Measuring Color Darkness
There are a few ways we can numerically compare the darkness of black and dark brown:
- Hue – Black has a hue of 0 degrees (no hue), while dark brown has a hue of around 25 degrees.
- Saturation – Black has 0% saturation, dark brown may have 5-15% saturation.
- Brightness – Black has 0% brightness, dark brown may have 1-5% brightness.
- RGB values – In RGB color coding, black is (0,0,0) while dark brown is around (35,31,31).
Based on these metrics, black is clearly the darker of the two colors. It has no hue, saturation, or brightness, absorbing all light. Dark brown is slightly lighter with a hint of red-yellow hue, a touch of saturation, and 1-5% reflected brightness.
Visual Color Comparisons
Looking at color swatches side-by-side also shows that black is darker than any shade of brown:
| Color | Swatch |
|---|---|
| Black | |
| Dark brown |
The black swatch reflects no light and appears as a void. The dark brown, while also very dark, is discernible as a deep brown color.
Here is another visual comparison showing scales from white to black, then light brown to dark brown:
| White to Black | Light Brown to Dark Brown | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
Again, the black is clearly a touch darker than even the darkest brown swatch.
Light Absorption
We can also consider the physics of light absorption. As mentioned, black absorbs all visible wavelength light while dark brown absorbs most light with a little red-yellow reflection.
This means that when white light shines on a black surface, it absorbs 100% of photons across 400-700nm wavelengths. A dark brown surface absorbs about 90-98% of those photons.
This greater total light energy absorption is why black appears darker than any shade of brown to our eyes.
Textile Industry Standards
In the textile and fashion industry, color darkness is quantified using grade scales. Some common examples:
- The AATCC Gray Scale – grades colors from Grade 1 (totally black) to Grade 5 (totally white)
- The Staining Scale – grades from Grade 1 (highest staining) to Grade 5 (no staining)
- The American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists (AATCC) scale – grades 20 levels of gray from pure black to pure white.
On all these grading scales, black ranks as the darkest shade, with dark brown slightly lighter. For example, on the AATCC Gray Scale, black is Grade 1 while dark brown is Grade 2.
Printing Black vs. Rich Black
In the printing and design industry, pure black is referred to as “printing black.” This shade is defined as 100K on the CMYK color scale.
However, some designers prefer the look of “rich black.” This is a mixed black made from combining CMYK colors, such as 60C 50M 50Y 100K.
The addition of cyan, magenta, and yellow ink to the black creates a darker, richer shade. This shows that even in printing applications, pure black is not always the absolute darkest option. But generally, printing black will be darker than most dark brown tones.
Black vs. Dark Brown Thread
Sewing and embroidery thread provides another real-world example of comparing black and dark brown. Brands like Coats produce cotton threads in both black and dark brown shades.
Just by visual inspection, black thread appears darker than dark brown thread. The black has a more void-like appearance absorbing all light, while the brown still shows some warm, deep brown undertones reflecting a tiny bit of red/yellow light.
Dark Brown Hair vs. Black Hair
In hair color, black again ranks darker than dark brown. Black hair has a hue of 0 degrees with no visible warm or cool undertones. Dark brown hair has more reddish-orange warmth.
There are caveats here though. Some black hair still has a tiny amount of underlying melanin pigment giving a brown tint. And sun-faded black hair can appear lighter over time. But generally, natural, non-faded black hair appears darker than even the deepest brown-black hair.
Black vs. Dark Brown Paint
With paints, the argument gets a little murkier. Some black oil or acrylic paint pigments are so dense that they create very matte, dark blacks. Ivory black for example, made from burnt ivory or bones, produces an intensely dark black hue.
But other black pigments exhibit more of a warm brownish tint. And certain dark brown paint mixes made with lots of blue or purple can appear very nearly black. So in some cases, a rich dark brown paint mix may seem darker than a more reddish-black paint.
In general though, black paint that absorbs across all wavelengths will appear darker than paint mixing mostly blues and browns to try to simulate black.
Black vs. Dark Brown Makeup
With makeup and color cosmetics, black eyeliners, mascaras, and lipsticks aim to create as close to a true black as possible. Pigments like carbon black absorb broad spectrum light to create very dark shades.
Dark brown makeup, on the other hand, uses more nuanced mixes of browns, reds, yellows, white, and black to produce rich, deep brown hues. But these don’t achieve the same true blackness of carbon black pigments. So for makeup, black edges out dark brown in terms of darkness.
Black vs. Dark Brown Eyes
When it comes to human iris eye color, black irises do not exist. But some people with a very high concentration of melanin have such dark brown eyes that they appear black. This is also called very dark brown.
However, if you look closely at a very dark brown eye in bright light, you can still perceive a very deep brown color vs. a true void-like black. So for eye color, black irises are not possible, making dark brown the darkest natural eye shade.
Black Animals vs. Dark Brown Animals
Some animals are commonly referred to as “black” or “dark brown.” For example, black panthers, black bears, black dogs vs. dark brown bears, deer, horses, etc.
But most animals labeled “black” are in reality very dark shades of brown, grey, or blue. Only animals producing true eumelanin pigment (black chickens, crows, etc.) have deep black coloration. Other dark animals have color mixes that absorb most but not all light.
So in the animal kingdom, eumelanic black is generally darker than mixed melanin “dark brown.”
Deep Space – The Darkest Dark Brown
Deep space and the area between stars and galaxies is very nearly a perfect black. But even the faintest glow of distant stars or residual cosmic background radiation means that empty space is technically more of an extremely dark brown than a true light-absorbing black.
So the darkest dark brown color in the universe still isn’t as dark as absolute black nothingness. But it comes quite close!
Conclusion
Based on all these color comparisons, we can conclude that black is indeed darker than any shade of dark brown. Black absorbs all wavelengths of visible light and reflects none, creating a total void-like darkness.
Dark brown, on the other hand, absorbs most but not all light. It retains a hint of warm red and yellow tones that give it a definable brown color vs. true blackness. So while dark brown is very nearly black, it is not quite as absolutely dark as pure black.
The only exceptions may be in manmade applications like rich black print mixes or heavily pigmented black paints that achieve darkness through mix of colors. But in nature, black animals, hair, eyes, and the total lack of light in deep space all demonstrate that black is the true darkest color, ahead of even the deepest dark brown.
So in summary:
Black is darker than dark brown due to:
- Black absorbing all visible light vs. dark brown reflecting some red/yellow tones
- Black having 0% hue, saturation and brightness vs. dark brown having slight amounts of each
- Black ranking darker on textile and printing color scales
- The physics of black absorbing more total photons than dark brown
- Most natural black animal/hair/eye color being darker than dark brown shades
The only exceptions are manmade colors or when fading lightens true black over time. But otherwise, black is clearly the deeper, darker color compared to even the most deep dark brown shades.
