Resistor Color Code

Read a 4-, 5- or 6-band resistor from the IEC 60062 color code. You get nominal ohms, tolerance, the min/max range, and the temperature coefficient on a 6-band part. Grey tolerance is ±0.01%. A missing tolerance band on a 4-band resistor is read as ±20%.

Bands

1st digit

2nd digit

Multiplier

Tolerance

No band means ±20%.

Resistance

1 kΩ

1,000 ohm nominal

Tolerance: ±5%
Minimum: 0.95 kΩ
Maximum: 1.05 kΩ
Bands: 4-band

IEC 60062. Digit bands are black through white. Gold and silver are not significant digits. Grey tolerance is ±0.01%. A 4-band resistor with no tolerance band is ±20%. This reads the color code; it does not measure the part.

Try:

Frequently asked questions

How are the bands read?

A 4-band code is digit, digit, multiplier, tolerance. A 5-band code adds a third digit before the multiplier. A 6-band code adds a temperature-coefficient band in ppm/°C. Digit colors run black 0 through white 9. Gold and silver are multipliers (×0.1 and ×0.01) or tolerances, never significant digits.

What if a 4-band resistor has no tolerance band?

IEC 60062 treats a missing tolerance band as ±20%. Choose “No band” on the tolerance selector. 5- and 6-band codes still need a tolerance color.

What are the grey, orange and yellow resistor tolerances?

This tool follows IEC 60062:2016: grey tolerance is ±0.01%, orange is ±0.05%, and yellow is ±0.02%. Brown is ±1%, red ±2%, green ±0.5%, blue ±0.25%, violet ±0.1%, gold ±5% and silver ±10%. The sixth band is temperature coefficient only (brown 100, red 50, orange 15, yellow 25, blue 10, violet 5 ppm/°C).