HCL

abbreviationStandard termLighting

A color space model defining colors by their hue, chroma, and luminance.

HCL stands for hue, chroma, and luminance. It is a cylindrical color space designed to align with human visual perception better than standard RGB models. By separating the lightness component from the color intensity and color type, it allows designers and color scientists to adjust colors without accidentally shifting perceived brightness.

Heard on the job

Convert the palette to HCL before mapping the data values so the luminance remains consistent across the entire gradient.