Whisper White (Behr HDC-MD-08) vs Polar Bear (SW 7564)

Living room with walls painted Behr Whisper White HDC-MD-08 (simulated) — Whisper White Behr HDC-MD-08#F4F3EA, LRV 89.3 (estimated)

Living room with walls painted Sherwin-Williams Polar Bear SW 7564 (simulated) — Polar Bear SW 7564#E8DFCA, LRV 74

Illustrative room. Screen colors vary; test a sample before you paint.

Quick decision

Lighter: Whisper White, LRV 89.3 vs 74.
Warmer: Polar Bear, both warm white (Lab b* 11.4 vs 4.5).
North rooms: Whisper White: keeps more brightness (L* 91.8 vs 85.1 in north light) and drifts less gray (chroma drop 2.1 vs 4.5).
Trim that works: Harmonious White Behr DC-013, #EEEDE4, LRV 84.3 (estimated): the Behr white closest in hue to both.
Closeness: deltaE 6.7, clearly different. At 6.7, treat them as different colors.

See each color

Whisper WhiteBehr HDC-MD-08LRV 89.3 (estimated), #F4F3EA

More comparisons with Whisper White

Whisper White vs Swiss CoffeeBehr HDC-MD-08 vs BM OC-45deltaE 1.7, very close

Polar BearSherwin-Williams, SW 7564LRV 74, #E8DFCA

More comparisons with Polar Bear

Whisper White (Behr HDC-MD-08) is much lighter than Polar Bear (SW 7564) and cooler: LRV 89.3 vs 74, deltaE 6.7 (clearly different).

Side by side

Measure	Whisper White	Polar Bear	Gap
Brand	Behr	Sherwin-Williams
Color code	HDC-MD-08	SW 7564
Hex	#F4F3EA	#E8DFCA
RGB	244, 243, 234	232, 223, 202
HSL	54°, 31%, 94%	42°, 39%, 85%
LRV (light reflectance value)	89.3 (est.)	74	+15.3
Lab L*	95.7	89.0	+6.7
Lab a*	-1.2	-0.4	−0.8
Lab b*	4.5	11.4	−6.9
Undertone	Neutral	Warm Yellow
Temperature	neutral	warm
Color family	White	Beige

Same paint, two kinds of light

Whisper White (Behr HDC-MD-08), published as #F4F3EA

North light (cool, indirect)
#E2E9E8

South light (warm, direct)
#FFFEEA

Polar Bear (SW 7564), published as #E8DFCA

North light (cool, indirect)
#D7D5C8

South light (warm, direct)
#FAE9CA

These swatches and the rooms above are a simulation, not a measurement. How the visualizer works

Which should you pick

Rules of thumb computed from the LRV and Lab values in the table above; no room test was done.

Pick Whisper White (Behr HDC-MD-08) for a small room or a north-facing room, because it is 15.3 LRV points lighter (89.3 vs 74), so it bounces back more of the limited light
Pick Whisper White (Behr HDC-MD-08) for a south-facing room, because its Lab b* is 4.5 against 11.4, so it is the cooler of the two and offsets warm direct sun
Pick Polar Bear (SW 7564) to warm a north-facing room, because it is the warmer of the two (Lab b* 11.4), which counters cool indirect light

Closest matches to Whisper White in other brands

Closest matches to Polar Bear in other brands

Common questions

Is Whisper White the same color as Polar Bear?: They are clearly different: a CIEDE2000 difference of 6.7. Whisper White and Polar Bear are different colors.
Which is lighter, Whisper White or Polar Bear?: Whisper White, with an LRV of 89.3 against 74.

Full pages

Related comparisons

By Paint Pairs. Color data from manufacturer specifications, via PaintDB. The most-viewed colors are checked against each manufacturer's own color page.

Published 2026-10-01. Updated 2026-10-01.

Sources: Whisper White: hex as published by the manufacturer, via PaintDB (CC BY 4.0); LRV is not published by Behr for this color and is estimated here from the color's own hex value; Polar Bear: 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.