What is the difference between HSV and HWB?

HSV (Hue, Saturation, Value) describes a color by its position on the hue wheel, its saturation (color purity), and its brightness. HWB (Hue, Whiteness, Blackness) is more perceptual: Whiteness controls how much white is mixed in, and Blackness controls how much black is mixed in. Both share the same Hue axis (0–360°). HWB is generally considered more intuitive for designers.

How is HSV converted to HWB mathematically?

Given HSV values where S and V are in [0, 1]: Whiteness = (1 − S) × V and Blackness = 1 − V. The Hue angle remains unchanged. In percentage terms: W = (1 − S/100) × V/100 × 100 and B = (1 − V/100) × 100.

Is HSV the same as HSB?

Yes. HSB (Hue, Saturation, Brightness) is an alternate name for HSV. The formulas and channel ranges are identical, so you can use HSB values directly in this converter.

Is HWB supported in CSS?

Yes. The hwb() color function is part of CSS Color Level 4 and is supported in all modern browsers (Chrome 101+, Firefox 96+, Safari 15+). You can write hwb(210 20% 5%) directly in your stylesheet.

What happens when Whiteness + Blackness exceeds 100%?

When the sum of Whiteness and Blackness is greater than 100%, browsers normalize both values proportionally. This converter ensures the output is within valid range by using the standard HSV-to-HWB formula, which naturally keeps W + B ≤ 100%.

Is any data sent to a server?

No. All calculations run locally in your browser using JavaScript. Your color values never leave your device.

HSV to HWB Converter

Name: HSV to HWB Converter
Availability: InStock
Author: Nham Vu

Enter HSV values or drag the sliders and instantly see the equivalent HWB color values with a live swatch.

HSV Input

Hue

deg

Saturation

Value

Color Picker

Quick Presets

hwb(200 23% 10%)

HWB Values

Hue

200

deg

Whiteness

Blackness

hwb(200 23% 10%)

Conversion Formula

W = (1 − S) × V

B = 1 − V

H_hwb = H_hsv (unchanged)

where S and V are in [0, 1]

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Summary

Enter HSV values or drag the sliders and instantly see the equivalent HWB color values with a live swatch.

How it works

Enter or drag the Hue slider (0–360°) to select a base color angle.
Adjust the Saturation slider (0–100%) to control color intensity in HSV.
Set the Value slider (0–100%) to control brightness in HSV.
The HWB equivalent — Hue, Whiteness, and Blackness — updates instantly.
A live color swatch shows the resulting color.
Click Copy to grab the hwb() CSS string for immediate use in your stylesheet.

Use cases

Convert HSV colors from Photoshop or GIMP into the modern CSS hwb() format.
Understand how much white and black a color contains when designing accessible palettes.
Translate design tool HSV output into HWB for CSS Color Level 4 projects.
Explore how Whiteness and Blackness relate to Saturation and Value.
Verify color transformations when building color pickers or palette generators.
Generate CSS hwb() function values from HSV color picker input.
Quick-check color channel relationships when teaching color theory.
Cross-reference HSV and HWB representations of the same color for documentation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Last updated: 2026-07-01 · Reviewed by Nham Vu