Nearest-color comparison
Medium Turquoise #48D1CC vs Turquoise #40E0D0: RGB distance 17.5 and contrast 1.14:1. Compare hue, luminance, saturation, WCAG and practical use.
Medium Turquoise and Turquoise are very close, with an RGB distance of 17.5. Turquoise is lighter by 0.0762, and Turquoise is more saturated by 12 percentage points. Their mutual contrast is 1.14:1. The pair is too close for a readable foreground/background combination and works better as neighboring palette colors.
The main measurable differences between Medium Turquoise and Turquoise across RGB distance, luminance, hue, saturation, and contrast.
cyan color
Medium Turquoise is #48D1CC, a cool cyan with hue 178°, saturation 60% and luminance 0.5134. Beside Turquoise, it is darker and less saturated. Of the two standard text choices, black text gives the higher contrast at 11.27:1.
cyan color
Turquoise is #40E0D0, a cool cyan with hue 174°, saturation 72% and luminance 0.5896. Beside Medium Turquoise, it is lighter and more saturated. Of the two standard text choices, black text gives the higher contrast at 12.79:1.
Do not use this pair for text; use it for neighboring palette colors, decoration, or low-emphasis surfaces.
Downloadable color comparison infographic
Save a high-resolution comparison infographic with both HEX colors, visual distance, mutual contrast, and accessibility guidance.
A compact visual strip showing the two compared colors with nearby harmony and variant context.
Machine-readable data
Structured comparison data for Medium Turquoise and Turquoise, including color systems, RGB distance, HSL deltas, contrast, accessibility guidance, use cases, and API links.
Colors Encyclopedia
colorsBoth named color records with HEX, RGB, HSL, CMYK, luminance, WCAG, and linksdifferencesRGB distance, HSL deltas, luminance delta, contrast, and shared attributesaccessibilityPair contrast and safer text choices for each coloruseCasesWhen to choose each color and when to use them togetherrelatedApiMachine-readable comparison and color endpoints[
{
"slug": "medium-turquoise",
"name": "Medium Turquoise",
"hex": "#48D1CC",
"rgb": [
72,
209,
204
],
"hsl": [
178,
60,
55
],
"cmyk": [
66,
0,
2,
18
],
"family": "cyan",
"temperature": "cool",
"tone": [
"balanced"
],
"luminance": 0.5134,
"contrast": {
"black": 11.27,
"white": 1.86
},
"wcag": {
"AA": [
"#000000",
"#1A1A1A",
"#36454F"
],
"AAA": [
"#000000",
"#1A1A1A"
]
},
"bestText": {
"text": "#000000",
"label": "black text",
"ratio": 11.27
},
"description": "Medium Turquoise is #48D1CC, a cool cyan color with balanced character. Compared with Turquoise, it is darker and less saturated. Use it for web design, css color systems, and ui prototyping, with black text as the safer foreground option.",
"url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/medium-turquoise/",
"apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/medium-turquoise.json"
},
{
"slug": "turquoise",
"name": "Turquoise",
"hex": "#40E0D0",
"rgb": [
64,
224,
208
],
"hsl": [
174,
72,
56
],
"cmyk": [
71,
0,
7,
12
],
"family": "cyan",
"temperature": "cool",
"tone": [
"bright",
"vibrant"
],
"luminance": 0.5896,
"contrast": {
"black": 12.79,
"white": 1.64
},
"wcag": {
"AA": [
"#000000",
"#1A1A1A",
"#36454F"
],
"AAA": [
"#000000",
"#1A1A1A"
]
},
"bestText": {
"text": "#000000",
"label": "black text",
"ratio": 12.79
},
"description": "Turquoise is #40E0D0, a cool cyan color with bright and vibrant character. Compared with Medium Turquoise, it is lighter and more saturated. Use it for travel, summer palettes, and playful interfaces, with black text as the safer foreground option.",
"url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/turquoise/",
"apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/turquoise.json"
}
]{
"rgbDistance": 17.5,
"contrastRatio": 1.14,
"hslDelta": {
"hue": 4,
"saturation": 12,
"lightness": 1
},
"luminanceDelta": 0.0762,
"sameFamily": true,
"sameTemperature": true,
"sharedTones": [],
"lighterColor": "Turquoise",
"moreSaturatedColor": "Turquoise"
}{
"pairContrastRatio": 1.14,
"textRecommendation": "Do not use this pair for text; use it for neighboring palette colors, decoration, or low-emphasis surfaces.",
"safeText": [
{
"color": "Medium Turquoise",
"background": "#48D1CC",
"foreground": "#000000",
"label": "black text",
"ratio": 11.27
},
{
"color": "Turquoise",
"background": "#40E0D0",
"foreground": "#000000",
"label": "black text",
"ratio": 12.79
}
]
}{
"chooseFirstWhen": "Medium Turquoise is better when the design needs balanced cyan character, cool temperature, and the specific HEX value #48D1CC.",
"chooseSecondWhen": "Turquoise is better when the design needs bright and vibrant cyan character, cool temperature, and the specific HEX value #40E0D0.",
"useTogetherWhen": "Use these colors together as related palette neighbors, subtle material differences, or tonal alternatives rather than readable foreground/background pairs."
}[
"https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/compare/medium-turquoise-vs-turquoise.json",
"https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/medium-turquoise.json",
"https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/turquoise.json"
]{
"datasetVersion": "1.0.0",
"slug": "medium-turquoise-vs-turquoise",
"type": "nearest",
"name": "Medium Turquoise vs Turquoise",
"verdict": "Medium Turquoise and Turquoise are very close colors. Turquoise is the lighter option. They share similar temperature behavior. Their mutual contrast is 1.14:1, so the pair is too low for text and better treated as a palette relationship.",
"summary": "Medium Turquoise and Turquoise are different cyan colors with HEX values #48D1CC and #40E0D0. According to Colors Encyclopedia, their RGB distance is 17.5, their contrast ratio is 1.14:1, and the comparison helps choose between tone, temperature, and accessibility behavior.",
"rgbDistance": 17.5,
"contrastRatio": 1.14,
"colors": [
{
"slug": "medium-turquoise",
"name": "Medium Turquoise",
"hex": "#48D1CC",
"rgb": [
72,
209,
204
],
"hsl": [
178,
60,
55
],
"cmyk": [
66,
0,
2,
18
],
"family": "cyan",
"temperature": "cool",
"tone": [
"balanced"
],
"luminance": 0.5134,
"contrast": {
"black": 11.27,
"white": 1.86
},
"wcag": {
"AA": [
"#000000",
"#1A1A1A",
"#36454F"
],
"AAA": [
"#000000",
"#1A1A1A"
]
},
"bestText": {
"text": "#000000",
"label": "black text",
"ratio": 11.27
},
"description": "Medium Turquoise is #48D1CC, a cool cyan color with balanced character. Compared with Turquoise, it is darker and less saturated. Use it for web design, css color systems, and ui prototyping, with black text as the safer foreground option.",
"url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/medium-turquoise/",
"apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/medium-turquoise.json"
},
{
"slug": "turquoise",
"name": "Turquoise",
"hex": "#40E0D0",
"rgb": [
64,
224,
208
],
"hsl": [
174,
72,
56
],
"cmyk": [
71,
0,
7,
12
],
"family": "cyan",
"temperature": "cool",
"tone": [
"bright",
"vibrant"
],
"luminance": 0.5896,
"contrast": {
"black": 12.79,
"white": 1.64
},
"wcag": {
"AA": [
"#000000",
"#1A1A1A",
"#36454F"
],
"AAA": [
"#000000",
"#1A1A1A"
]
},
"bestText": {
"text": "#000000",
"label": "black text",
"ratio": 12.79
},
"description": "Turquoise is #40E0D0, a cool cyan color with bright and vibrant character. Compared with Medium Turquoise, it is lighter and more saturated. Use it for travel, summer palettes, and playful interfaces, with black text as the safer foreground option.",
"url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/turquoise/",
"apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/turquoise.json"
}
],
"differences": {
"rgbDistance": 17.5,
"contrastRatio": 1.14,
"hslDelta": {
"hue": 4,
"saturation": 12,
"lightness": 1
},
"luminanceDelta": 0.0762,
"sameFamily": true,
"sameTemperature": true,
"sharedTones": [],
"lighterColor": "Turquoise",
"moreSaturatedColor": "Turquoise"
},
"accessibility": {
"pairContrastRatio": 1.14,
"textRecommendation": "Do not use this pair for text; use it for neighboring palette colors, decoration, or low-emphasis surfaces.",
"safeText": [
{
"color": "Medium Turquoise",
"background": "#48D1CC",
"foreground": "#000000",
"label": "black text",
"ratio": 11.27
},
{
"color": "Turquoise",
"background": "#40E0D0",
"foreground": "#000000",
"label": "black text",
"ratio": 12.79
}
]
},
"useCases": {
"chooseFirstWhen": "Medium Turquoise is better when the design needs balanced cyan character, cool temperature, and the specific HEX value #48D1CC.",
"chooseSecondWhen": "Turquoise is better when the design needs bright and vibrant cyan character, cool temperature, and the specific HEX value #40E0D0.",
"useTogetherWhen": "Use these colors together as related palette neighbors, subtle material differences, or tonal alternatives rather than readable foreground/background pairs."
},
"relatedApi": [
"https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/compare/medium-turquoise-vs-turquoise.json",
"https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/medium-turquoise.json",
"https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/turquoise.json"
],
"url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/compare/medium-turquoise-vs-turquoise/",
"apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/compare/medium-turquoise-vs-turquoise.json"
}