Smoke Blue (PPG 1156-5)
Illustrative room. Screen colors vary; test a sample before you paint.
Smoke Blue (PPG 1156-5) is a very deep, cool blue from PPG Paints: LRV 17, so it reflects about 17 percent of the light that hits it.
Colors that go with Smoke Blue
Four PPG Paints colors picked for Smoke Blue by this site's color math: a trim white, a deeper blue, a quiet contrast from another family, a dark accent. PPG Paints did not choose these pairings.
Closest match in every other brand
Each brand's closest color to Smoke 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 | Inky Blue | SW 9149 | 15 | 2.4 | noticeably different |
| Benjamin Moore | Bedford Blue | 1679 | 17.4 | 1.6 | very close |
| Behr | Cayman Bay | PPU14-03 | 17.4 | 2.3 | noticeably different |
| Valspar | Photogenic | 5010-10 | 15 | 3.8 | noticeably different |
Lighter and darker in PPG Paints
The PPG Paints blue colors nearest to Smoke Blue (LRV 17) by LRV.
Lighter than Smoke Blue
Darker than Smoke Blue
Color data
| Brand | PPG Paints |
|---|---|
| Color code | 1156-5 |
| Hex | #53778F |
| RGB | 83, 119, 143 |
| HSL | 204°, 27%, 44% |
| LRV (light reflectance value) | 17 |
| Lab L*, a*, b* | 48.3, -6.1, -17.1 |
| Undertone | Cool Blue |
| Temperature | cool |
| Color family | Blue |
Same paint, two kinds of light
Smoke Blue (PPG 1156-5), published as #53778F
#3D6E8D
#68808F
These swatches and the rooms above are a simulation, not a measurement. How the visualizer works
Similar shades from PPG Paints
More from PPG Paints
Common questions
- What is the LRV of Smoke Blue (PPG 1156-5)?
- Smoke Blue has an LRV of 17. LRV runs from 0 (black) to 100 (pure white) and measures the share of light a surface reflects, so Smoke Blue is a very deep color.
- What is the closest match to Smoke Blue in another brand?
- Bedford Blue (BM 1679) from Benjamin Moore, at a deltaE of 1.6 (very close).
- Is Smoke Blue warm or cool?
- PPG Paints lists Smoke Blue as cool, with a Cool Blue undertone. Its Lab b* value is -17.1; 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.