Midnight Blue (BM 1638)
Illustrative room. Screen colors vary; test a sample before you paint.
Midnight Blue (BM 1638) is a very deep, neutral gray from Benjamin Moore: LRV 8.2, so it reflects about 8 percent of the light that hits it.
Colors that go with Midnight Blue
Three Benjamin Moore colors picked for Midnight Blue by this site's color math: a trim white, a quiet contrast from another family, a dark accent. Benjamin Moore did not choose these pairings.
Closest match in every other brand
Each brand's closest color to Midnight Blue, ranked by CIEDE2000 (deltaE): under 1.0 is indistinguishable, 1.0 to 2.3 very close, 2.3 to 5 noticeably different, over 5 clearly different.
| Brand | Closest color | Code | LRV | deltaE | How close |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sherwin-Williams | Cyberspace | SW 7076 | 6 | 2.2 | very close |
| Behr | Black Ribbon | HDC-CL-24 | 7.1 | 1.1 | very close |
| Valspar | Chimney Smoke | 4010-1 | 8 | 1.4 | very close |
| PPG Paints | Witchcraft | 1037-7 | 7 | 0.7 | indistinguishable |
Lighter and darker in Benjamin Moore
The Benjamin Moore gray colors nearest to Midnight Blue (LRV 8.2) by LRV.
Lighter than Midnight Blue
Darker than Midnight Blue
Color data
| Brand | Benjamin Moore |
|---|---|
| Color code | 1638 |
| Hex | #494E52 |
| RGB | 73, 78, 82 |
| HSL | 207°, 6%, 30% |
| LRV (light reflectance value) | 8.2 |
| Lab L*, a*, b* | 32.9, -1.1, -3.0 |
| Undertone | Cool |
| Temperature | neutral |
| Color family | Gray |
Same paint, two kinds of light
Midnight Blue (BM 1638), published as #494E52
#394650
#595752
These swatches and the rooms above are a simulation, not a measurement. How the visualizer works
Similar shades from Benjamin Moore
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Common questions
- What is the LRV of Midnight Blue (BM 1638)?
- Midnight Blue has an LRV of 8.2. LRV runs from 0 (black) to 100 (pure white) and measures the share of light a surface reflects, so Midnight Blue is a very deep color.
- What is the closest match to Midnight Blue in another brand?
- Witchcraft (PPG 1037-7) from PPG Paints, at a deltaE of 0.7 (indistinguishable).
- Is Midnight Blue warm or cool?
- Benjamin Moore lists Midnight Blue as neutral, with a Cool undertone. Its Lab b* value is -3.0; a higher b* is warmer and yellower, a lower one cooler and bluer.
Sources: LRV and hex as published by the manufacturer, via PaintDB (CC BY 4.0). Color differences are CIEDE2000 values computed by this site from the hex values (data snapshot 2026-10-01). Color names and codes belong to their manufacturers.