8-bit Color

Explore any color: convert hex ↔ RGB ↔ HSL and find the nearest retro console color.

#ff004d

complement

Hex

RGB

rgb(255, 0, 77)

R / G / B 255 0 77

HSL

hsl(342, 100%, 50%)

Luminance 33% — dark

CSS var

--color: #ff004d;

Nearest color in retro palettes

PICO-8 #ff004d rgb(255,0,77)

Game Boy #8bac0f rgb(139,172,15)

NES #e40058 rgb(228,0,88)

C64 #ff7777 rgb(255,119,119)

Terminal #000000 rgb(0,0,0)

8-bit Color Converter with Retro Palette Lookup

Station255's Color tool converts any hex color to RGB and HSL, shows the complementary color, calculates perceptual luminance, and instantly finds the nearest matching color in five classic retro palettes: PICO-8, Game Boy, NES, C64, and Terminal. All calculations run in your browser using pure JavaScript — no server, no API.

How nearest-palette matching works

The tool computes Euclidean distance in RGB color space between your input color and every color in each palette, then returns the closest match. For better perceptual accuracy, results weight luminance more heavily than chrominance.

Use cases

Game developers restricting their palette to authentic hardware limits, pixel artists picking complementary colors, front-end developers converting design tokens, and retro graphics enthusiasts exploring what any modern color looks like on classic hardware.

FAQ

Can I type RGB values directly?

Currently the tool accepts hex input. RGB-to-hex conversion is built in — you can enter a hex code by converting RGB values manually or using the color picker.

What does clicking a palette match do?

It loads that exact retro color into the tool so you can explore its values and find further matches.