Lead Resistor Introduces Resistor Color Coding What are the benefits?

Resistor color code refers to the application of a series of color bands on the resistor. Usually, many of this color code can be seen in lead resistors. Lead resistors are a relatively early resistance package. Resistors have more history. At present, most manufacturers use the color code to determine their resistance value. There are a variety of different resistance values to choose from, from a few ohms to millions of ohms. It's not possible that each resistor's value is like 1Ω, 2Ω, 3Ω, so they are in the tens or hundreds or thousands. To overcome this problem, resistor color coding was introduced.

On each lead (through-hole) resistor, there is a colored band that represents the resistance value within the resistor. Almost all resistors (leads) with power ratings up to 1 watt are marked with a colored band. Color coding is defined in International Standard 1EC60062. Also, the entire body of the resistor is colored; there is one or more colors on the ends of the resistor (called tip color) and finally, there is a speck of paint on the body. This color code is often seen on the outer layers of wirewound resistors and helps a lot to get a quick overview of the resistor.

The colored bands on the resistors indicate the resistor's resistance value, tolerance, and temperature coefficient. The number of colored bands can be from 3 to 6. In order to read the colored bands on a resistor, we need to follow this color code chart. Before reading the resistor color code, we need to figure out which band to start with. Tolerance bands are located some gaps from the other 2-3 bands, so we get an idea of where to start. Also, it's a good idea to read the manufacturer's datasheet to better understand how to calculate resistance values from their color codes.