Black Tar vs Pitch Black
Where Black Tar belongs to Benjamin Moore's range, Pitch Black is a Farrow & Ball color. Both sit in the grey family, which is useful context if you're narrowing within a single hue direction. They have nearly identical light reflectance values (6 vs 5), so they'll read as similarly Dark in most lighting conditions. Black Tar runs blue while Pitch Black is decidedly neutral, which means they'll respond very differently to warm vs cool light sources. At ΔE 1.9, these are close — the kind of difference that matters when choosing between them, but doesn't read strongly in a finished room. Below you'll find 1 real-room photo comparison where both colors appear side by side, plus 5 simulated room previews.
Black Tar vs Pitch Black in Real Spaces
1 real room side by side. Black Tar and Pitch Black are close enough that the difference can be hard to judge from a chip alone — these photos show how each reads at scale, across different spaces and lighting conditions.
Kitchen Cabinets
Kitchen cabinets are constantly compared against adjacent materials, which means subtle differences between these two become much more visible. At this scale the difference is subtle — you'd need them side by side, as shown here, to reliably tell them apart.
Color Details
Black Tar vs Pitch Black Simulated Comparison
5 simulated room previews — drag the slider on each to see Black Tar on one side and Pitch Black on the other.
Digital color is approximate. These simulations are generated from the manufacturer's hex values and overlaid on grayscale room photos — your screen's calibration, brightness, and viewing angle all affect how they render. Before committing to either color, test physical samples in your own space under the light you actually live with.
More Black Tar comparisons
See how Black Tar stacks up against other well-photographed colors across different brands and tones.
