Resistor Colour Code

Number of bands

First band

Second band

Multiplier

Tolerance

Result

Value1 кОм
Tolerance±5%
Minimum950 Ом
Maximum1.05 кОм
Value in ohms1,000
Bands4

Two digits, a multiplier and a tolerance

Decodes the value from four or five colour bands and shows the range the tolerance allows.

Resistors are too small to print numbers on, so the value is coded in coloured rings. On a four-band part the first two are digits, the third a multiplier and the fourth the tolerance. Precision five-band parts carry three digits instead of two.

Read from the end where the bands are grouped closer together; the tolerance band sits apart and is nearly always gold or silver. Read it the wrong way round and you get a completely different value.

What this calculator shows

The value written in ohms, kilohms or megohms
The tolerance and the range the part is guaranteed to fall within
The exact value in ohms for feeding into calculations

What to keep in mind

Uses the standard IEC 60062 table, which every manufacturer follows.
A sixth band, where present, encodes the temperature coefficient and does not affect the value.

FAQs

Which end do I read from?

The end where the bands are pushed together and closer to the edge. The tolerance band is separated by a visible gap and is usually gold or silver.

What makes a five-band resistor different?

Three significant digits instead of two, so it is more precise — typically one or two percent. They go where the value genuinely matters, in measuring circuits and dividers.

What do gold and silver multipliers mean?

Divide by ten and by a hundred. A gold multiplier band gives values like 4.7 or 0.22 ohms, which power circuits need often.

Why are values odd numbers like 4.7 and 6.8?

They come from the E12 and E24 series, spaced so that tolerance bands of neighbouring values overlap with no gaps. That is why a 5 kΩ resistor does not exist but 4.7 kΩ does.

Worked example

Brown, black, red, gold

Input: 4 bands: 1, 0, ×100, ±5%

Output: 1 kΩ, anywhere from 950 to 1,050 Ω

Note: The most common resistor in hobby electronics. Five percent means the real value can be fifty ohms off — irrelevant when limiting current through an LED.

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Resistor Colour Code

Result

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