Nearest-color comparison

Platinum vs Mercury

Platinum and Mercury are different gray colors with HEX values #E5E4E2 and #EBEBEB. According to Colors Encyclopedia, their RGB distance is 12.9, their contrast ratio is 1.07:1, and the comparison helps choose between tone, temperature, and accessibility behavior.

Platinum and Mercury are very close colors. Mercury is the lighter option. They share similar temperature behavior. Their mutual contrast is 1.07:1, so the pair is too low for text and better treated as a palette relationship.

Differences Use cases Accessibility JSON

Platinum#E5E4E2

Mercury#EBEBEB

Quick Difference Summary

The main measurable differences between Platinum and Mercury across RGB distance, luminance, hue, saturation, and contrast.

RGB distance12.9

Pair contrast1.07:1

Luminance delta0.0544

Hue delta40 deg

Lighter colorMercury

More saturatedPlatinum

Side-by-Side Color Profiles

gray color

Platinum

Platinum is #E5E4E2, a neutral gray color with light character. Compared with Mercury, it is darker and more saturated. Use it for backgrounds, typography, and product surfaces, with black text as the safer foreground option.

HEX#E5E4E2 RGB229, 228, 226 HSL40, 5, 89 CMYK0, 0, 1, 10 Luminance0.7764 Best textblack text

Color page WCAG HEX atlas

gray color

Mercury

Mercury is #EBEBEB, a neutral gray color with light character. Compared with Platinum, it is lighter and less saturated. Use it for metallic palettes, product finishes, and premium packaging, with black text as the safer foreground option.

HEX#EBEBEB RGB235, 235, 235 HSL0, 0, 92 CMYK0, 0, 0, 8 Luminance0.8308 Best textblack text

Color page WCAG HEX atlas

When to Use Platinum or Mercury

Choose PlatinumPlatinum is better when the design needs light gray character, neutral temperature, and the specific HEX value #E5E4E2.

Choose MercuryMercury is better when the design needs light gray character, neutral temperature, and the specific HEX value #EBEBEB.

Use togetherUse these colors together as related palette neighbors, subtle material differences, or tonal alternatives rather than readable foreground/background pairs.

Technical Comparison Table

PropertyPlatinumMercury

HEX#E5E4E2#EBEBEB

RGB229, 228, 226235, 235, 235

HSL40, 5, 890, 0, 92

CMYK0, 0, 1, 100, 0, 0, 8

FamilyGrayGray

TemperatureNeutralNeutral

ToneLightLight

Luminance0.77640.8308

Black contrast16.53:117.62:1

White contrast1.27:11.19:1

Shared tonesLight

Accessibility and Contrast

Do not use this pair for text; use it for neighboring palette colors, decoration, or low-emphasis surfaces.

Platinumblack text - 16.53:1

Mercuryblack text - 17.62:1

Related Palette Strip

A compact visual strip showing the two compared colors with nearby harmony and variant context.

Platinum#E5E4E2

Mercury#EBEBEB

White#FFFFFF

#E2E2E4#E2E2E4

Mercury#EBEBEB

colorsBoth named color records with HEX, RGB, HSL, CMYK, luminance, WCAG, and links

differencesRGB distance, HSL deltas, luminance delta, contrast, and shared attributes

accessibilityPair contrast and safer text choices for each color

useCasesWhen to choose each color and when to use them together

relatedApiMachine-readable comparison and color endpoints

Structured sections

Colors

[
  {
    "slug": "platinum",
    "name": "Platinum",
    "hex": "#E5E4E2",
    "rgb": [
      229,
      228,
      226
    ],
    "hsl": [
      40,
      5,
      89
    ],
    "cmyk": [
      0,
      0,
      1,
      10
    ],
    "family": "gray",
    "temperature": "neutral",
    "tone": [
      "light"
    ],
    "luminance": 0.7764,
    "contrast": {
      "black": 16.53,
      "white": 1.27
    },
    "wcag": {
      "AA": [
        "#000000",
        "#1A1A1A",
        "#36454F"
      ],
      "AAA": [
        "#000000",
        "#1A1A1A",
        "#36454F"
      ]
    },
    "bestText": {
      "text": "#000000",
      "label": "black text",
      "ratio": 16.53
    },
    "description": "Platinum is #E5E4E2, a neutral gray color with light character. Compared with Mercury, it is darker and more saturated. Use it for backgrounds, typography, and product surfaces, with black text as the safer foreground option.",
    "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/platinum/",
    "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/platinum.json"
  },
  {
    "slug": "mercury",
    "name": "Mercury",
    "hex": "#EBEBEB",
    "rgb": [
      235,
      235,
      235
    ],
    "hsl": [
      0,
      0,
      92
    ],
    "cmyk": [
      0,
      0,
      0,
      8
    ],
    "family": "gray",
    "temperature": "neutral",
    "tone": [
      "light"
    ],
    "luminance": 0.8308,
    "contrast": {
      "black": 17.62,
      "white": 1.19
    },
    "wcag": {
      "AA": [
        "#000000",
        "#1A1A1A",
        "#36454F"
      ],
      "AAA": [
        "#000000",
        "#1A1A1A",
        "#36454F"
      ]
    },
    "bestText": {
      "text": "#000000",
      "label": "black text",
      "ratio": 17.62
    },
    "description": "Mercury is #EBEBEB, a neutral gray color with light character. Compared with Platinum, it is lighter and less saturated. Use it for metallic palettes, product finishes, and premium packaging, with black text as the safer foreground option.",
    "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/mercury/",
    "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/mercury.json"
  }
]

Differences

{
  "rgbDistance": 12.9,
  "contrastRatio": 1.07,
  "hslDelta": {
    "hue": 40,
    "saturation": 5,
    "lightness": 3
  },
  "luminanceDelta": 0.0544,
  "sameFamily": true,
  "sameTemperature": true,
  "sharedTones": [
    "light"
  ],
  "lighterColor": "Mercury",
  "moreSaturatedColor": "Platinum"
}

Accessibility

{
  "pairContrastRatio": 1.07,
  "textRecommendation": "Do not use this pair for text; use it for neighboring palette colors, decoration, or low-emphasis surfaces.",
  "safeText": [
    {
      "color": "Platinum",
      "background": "#E5E4E2",
      "foreground": "#000000",
      "label": "black text",
      "ratio": 16.53
    },
    {
      "color": "Mercury",
      "background": "#EBEBEB",
      "foreground": "#000000",
      "label": "black text",
      "ratio": 17.62
    }
  ]
}

Use cases

{
  "chooseFirstWhen": "Platinum is better when the design needs light gray character, neutral temperature, and the specific HEX value #E5E4E2.",
  "chooseSecondWhen": "Mercury is better when the design needs light gray character, neutral temperature, and the specific HEX value #EBEBEB.",
  "useTogetherWhen": "Use these colors together as related palette neighbors, subtle material differences, or tonal alternatives rather than readable foreground/background pairs."
}

Related API

[
  "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/compare/platinum-vs-mercury.json",
  "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/platinum.json",
  "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/mercury.json"
]

Full JSON dataset

{
  "datasetVersion": "1.0.0",
  "slug": "platinum-vs-mercury",
  "type": "nearest",
  "name": "Platinum vs Mercury",
  "verdict": "Platinum and Mercury are very close colors. Mercury is the lighter option. They share similar temperature behavior. Their mutual contrast is 1.07:1, so the pair is too low for text and better treated as a palette relationship.",
  "summary": "Platinum and Mercury are different gray colors with HEX values #E5E4E2 and #EBEBEB. According to Colors Encyclopedia, their RGB distance is 12.9, their contrast ratio is 1.07:1, and the comparison helps choose between tone, temperature, and accessibility behavior.",
  "rgbDistance": 12.9,
  "contrastRatio": 1.07,
  "colors": [
    {
      "slug": "platinum",
      "name": "Platinum",
      "hex": "#E5E4E2",
      "rgb": [
        229,
        228,
        226
      ],
      "hsl": [
        40,
        5,
        89
      ],
      "cmyk": [
        0,
        0,
        1,
        10
      ],
      "family": "gray",
      "temperature": "neutral",
      "tone": [
        "light"
      ],
      "luminance": 0.7764,
      "contrast": {
        "black": 16.53,
        "white": 1.27
      },
      "wcag": {
        "AA": [
          "#000000",
          "#1A1A1A",
          "#36454F"
        ],
        "AAA": [
          "#000000",
          "#1A1A1A",
          "#36454F"
        ]
      },
      "bestText": {
        "text": "#000000",
        "label": "black text",
        "ratio": 16.53
      },
      "description": "Platinum is #E5E4E2, a neutral gray color with light character. Compared with Mercury, it is darker and more saturated. Use it for backgrounds, typography, and product surfaces, with black text as the safer foreground option.",
      "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/platinum/",
      "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/platinum.json"
    },
    {
      "slug": "mercury",
      "name": "Mercury",
      "hex": "#EBEBEB",
      "rgb": [
        235,
        235,
        235
      ],
      "hsl": [
        0,
        0,
        92
      ],
      "cmyk": [
        0,
        0,
        0,
        8
      ],
      "family": "gray",
      "temperature": "neutral",
      "tone": [
        "light"
      ],
      "luminance": 0.8308,
      "contrast": {
        "black": 17.62,
        "white": 1.19
      },
      "wcag": {
        "AA": [
          "#000000",
          "#1A1A1A",
          "#36454F"
        ],
        "AAA": [
          "#000000",
          "#1A1A1A",
          "#36454F"
        ]
      },
      "bestText": {
        "text": "#000000",
        "label": "black text",
        "ratio": 17.62
      },
      "description": "Mercury is #EBEBEB, a neutral gray color with light character. Compared with Platinum, it is lighter and less saturated. Use it for metallic palettes, product finishes, and premium packaging, with black text as the safer foreground option.",
      "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/mercury/",
      "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/mercury.json"
    }
  ],
  "differences": {
    "rgbDistance": 12.9,
    "contrastRatio": 1.07,
    "hslDelta": {
      "hue": 40,
      "saturation": 5,
      "lightness": 3
    },
    "luminanceDelta": 0.0544,
    "sameFamily": true,
    "sameTemperature": true,
    "sharedTones": [
      "light"
    ],
    "lighterColor": "Mercury",
    "moreSaturatedColor": "Platinum"
  },
  "accessibility": {
    "pairContrastRatio": 1.07,
    "textRecommendation": "Do not use this pair for text; use it for neighboring palette colors, decoration, or low-emphasis surfaces.",
    "safeText": [
      {
        "color": "Platinum",
        "background": "#E5E4E2",
        "foreground": "#000000",
        "label": "black text",
        "ratio": 16.53
      },
      {
        "color": "Mercury",
        "background": "#EBEBEB",
        "foreground": "#000000",
        "label": "black text",
        "ratio": 17.62
      }
    ]
  },
  "useCases": {
    "chooseFirstWhen": "Platinum is better when the design needs light gray character, neutral temperature, and the specific HEX value #E5E4E2.",
    "chooseSecondWhen": "Mercury is better when the design needs light gray character, neutral temperature, and the specific HEX value #EBEBEB.",
    "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/platinum-vs-mercury.json",
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/platinum.json",
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/mercury.json"
  ],
  "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/compare/platinum-vs-mercury/",
  "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/compare/platinum-vs-mercury.json"
}