Big Dipper (SW 9645)
Illustrative room. Screen colors vary; test a sample before you paint.
Big Dipper (SW 9645) is a very deep, neutral gray from Sherwin-Williams: LRV 6, so it reflects about 6 percent of the light that hits it.
Colors that go with Big Dipper
Three Sherwin-Williams colors picked for Big Dipper by this site's color math: a trim white, a quiet contrast from another family, a dark accent. Sherwin-Williams did not choose these pairings.
Closest match in every other brand
Each brand's closest color to Big Dipper, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benjamin Moore | Stonecutter | 2135-20 | 8.4 | 1.2 | very close |
| Behr | Black Sable | 730F-7 | 6.8 | 0.7 | indistinguishable |
| Valspar | Forest Canopy | 5010-1 | 7 | 1.3 | very close |
| PPG Paints | Black Forest | 1012-7 | 7 | 1.5 | very close |
Lighter and darker in Sherwin-Williams
The Sherwin-Williams gray colors nearest to Big Dipper (LRV 6) by LRV.
Lighter than Big Dipper
Color data
| Brand | Sherwin-Williams |
|---|---|
| Color code | SW 9645 |
| Hex | #41494B |
| RGB | 65, 73, 75 |
| HSL | 192°, 7%, 27% |
| LRV (light reflectance value) | 6 |
| Lab L*, a*, b* | 30.4, -2.7, -2.3 |
| Undertone | Neutral |
| Temperature | neutral |
| Color family | Gray |
Same paint, two kinds of light
Big Dipper (SW 9645), published as #41494B
#314149
#51524B
These swatches and the rooms above are a simulation, not a measurement. How the visualizer works
Similar shades from Sherwin-Williams
More from Sherwin-Williams
Common questions
- What is the LRV of Big Dipper (SW 9645)?
- Big Dipper has an LRV of 6. LRV runs from 0 (black) to 100 (pure white) and measures the share of light a surface reflects, so Big Dipper is a very deep color.
- What is the closest match to Big Dipper in another brand?
- Black Sable (Behr 730F-7) from Behr, at a deltaE of 0.7 (indistinguishable).
- Is Big Dipper warm or cool?
- Sherwin-Williams lists Big Dipper as neutral, with a Neutral undertone. Its Lab b* value is -2.3; 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.