Categories: SocietyTechnology

Color code

A color code or colour code is a system for displaying information by using different colors.

The earliest examples of color codes in use are for long distance communication by use of flags, as in semaphore communication. The United Kingdom adopted a color code scheme for such communication wherein red signified danger and white signified safety, with other colors having similar assignments of meaning.

As chemistry and other technologies advanced, it became expedient to use coloration as a signal for telling apart things that would otherwise be confusingly similar, such as wiring in electrical and electronic devices, and pharmaceutical pills.

The use of color codes has been extended to abstractions, such as the Homeland Security Advisory System color code in the United States. Similarly, hospital emergency codes often incorporate colors (such as the widely used “Code Blue” indicating a cardiac arrest), although they may also include numbers, and may not conform to a uniform standard.

Color codes do present some potential problems. On forms and signage, the use of color can distract from black and white text. They are often difficult for color blind and blind people to interpret, and even for those with normal color vision, use of a large number of colors to code a large number of variables can lead to use of confusingly similar colors.

Technical color coding

In addition to the selection of certain colors, a color code also includes the syntax, ie the rules on how the colors are to be arranged in relation to one another in order to achieve a certain assignment. The identification colors can receive a position-dependent meaning. In this sense, a color code can be considered a rudimentary language.

Color coding systems play an important role in many areas of human information, communication and documentation. In the social science context, they are part of nonverbal communication.

Field
Systems incorporating color-coding include:

Related Post

In electronics:
Electrical wiring – AC power phase, neutral, and grounding wires
Electronic color code – for electronic components
Jumper cables used to jump-start a vehicle
Surround sound ports and cables
Audio connectors
Video connectors
Optical fibers
PC connectors and ports
Three-phase electric power (electrical wiring)
25-pair color code – telecommunications wiring
Ethernet twisted-pair wiring – local area networks

In video games
Health and magic points
To distinguish friend from foe, for instance in StarCraft, Halo, or League of Legends
To distinguish rarity or quality of items in adventure and role-playing games

In navigation:
Navigation light
Sea mark
Characteristic light
Traffic lights

Other technology:
Bottled gases
Fire extinguishers
Underground utility location
Black hat hacking, white hat, grey hat
kerbside collection

In military use:
NATO Military Symbols for Land Based Systems#Affiliation
Artillery shells and other munitions, which are color-coded according to their pyrotechnic contents
Rainbow Herbicides
List of Rainbow Codes

In social functions:
Cooper’s Color Code of the combat mindset
ISO 22324, Guidelines for color-coded alerts in public warning
Handkerchief code
Ribbon colors see: Category:Ribbon symbolism
Rank in Judo
Blue-collar worker, white-collar worker, pink-collar worker, gold-collar worker, grey-collar, green-collar worker
At point of sale (especially for packaging within a huge range of products: to quickly differentiate variants, brands, categories)

Examples:
Color code for multi-core cables according to DIN 47100
Pipe marking according to DIN 2403 for marking media-carrying pipelines
Marking of gas cylinders according to DIN EN 1089-3
Resistor color code for identifying electrical resistances (similar to capacitors)
Color of the protective collar with ferrules for marking the maximum cross-section of the cable strand
Identification colors for control units and indicator lights to IEC / EN 60073 (VDE 0199), IEC / EN 60204-1 (VDE 0113 Part 1)
Color coding standards of individual wires of an electric cable (power supply) to identify the potential reference of the respective wire green-yellow, black, blue (according to DIN VDE 0293-308) with the main purpose of identifying dangerous live contacts.
Color coding standards of individual wires of an electronic cable for communication (telephone cable) or data transmission (TIA-568, DIN EN 0815) for identifying the signal affiliation with the main purpose of time-saving installation and exploiting the best possible immunity of the cable.
Identification of circuits in overhead lines
For PCs, the otherwise identical PS / 2 jacks for input devices: purple for keyboard, green for the mouse
For PCs the otherwise similar jack sockets for audio equipment: pink for microphone, blue for line-in, green for headphone output, other sockets see sound card
Headphone plug in stereo RCA version: The right audio channel is always red coded, traced back to the common letter R. In early versions, the left audio channel is encoded in yellow, again because of the common letter L. If, however, immediately adjacent to a composite Video connection exists, which is usually encoded in yellow, deviates the left audio channel on black or white.
General Audio stereo RCA connector: right channel always red, left yellow or black or white
Composite video RCA connectors: mostly yellow

Source From Wikipedia

Share