RAL 830-1 vs Essential Gray
Where RAL 830-1 belongs to RAL Effect's range, Essential Gray is a Sherwin-Williams color. These are both greys, so the question isn't which hue to choose — it's where within grey to land. They have nearly identical light reflectance values (50 vs 48), so they'll read as similarly Medium in most lighting conditions. At ΔE 2.4, 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 3 real-room photo comparisons where both colors appear side by side, plus 5 simulated room previews.
RAL 830-1 vs Essential Gray in Real Spaces
3 real rooms side by side. RAL 830-1 and Essential Gray 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.
Living Room
In a living room, color works across both daylight and evening light — the same wall can read very differently at noon and at 8pm. The two are close enough that the choice comes down to finer qualities — undertone, texture, what the color sits next to.
Bathroom
Bathrooms are one of the few spaces where you're genuinely enclosed by the paint color, which makes the choice between these two more consequential. At this scale the difference is subtle — you'd need them side by side, as shown here, to reliably tell them apart.
House
Seen across an entire facade, subtle tonal differences become pronounced. What reads as nearly the same on a chip often reads as clearly different at scale. At this scale the difference is subtle — you'd need them side by side, as shown here, to reliably tell them apart.
Color Details
RAL 830-1 vs Essential Gray Simulated Comparison
5 simulated room previews — drag the slider on each to see RAL 830-1 on one side and Essential Gray 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 RAL 830-1 comparisons
See how RAL 830-1 stacks up against other well-photographed colors across different brands and tones.
