HSL to RGB color conversion [closed]

Question

I am looking for a tool or the algorithm to convert between HSL color to RGB. It seems to me that HSL is not very widely used so I am not having much luck searching for a converter.

Answer 1

Here is the modified javascript function, it outputs Hue in set 0-360 degrees.

function rgbToHsl(r, g, b) {
      r /= 255, g /= 255, b /= 255;
      var max = Math.max(r, g, b), min = Math.min(r, g, b);
      var h, s, l = (max + min) / 2;

      if(max == min){
          h = s = 0; // achromatic
      } else {
          var d = max - min;
          s = l > 0.5 ? d / (2 - max - min) : d / (max + min);
          switch(max){
              case r: h = (g - b) / d ; break;
              case g: h = 2 + ( (b - r) / d); break;
              case b: h = 4 + ( (r - g) / d); break;
          }
          h*=60;
          if (h < 0) h +=360;
      }
     return([h, s, l]);
  }  
alert(rgbToHsl(125,115,145));

Answer 2

An hsl|a color value, set in javascript, will be instantly converted to rgb|a All you need to do then is access the computed style value

document.body.style.color = 'hsla(44, 100%, 50%, 0.8)';

console.log(window.getComputedStyle(document.body).color);

// displays: rgba(255, 187, 0, 0.8)

Technically, I guess, this isn't even any lines of code - it's just done automatically. So, depending on your environment, you might be able to get away with just this. Not that there aren't a lot of very thoughtful responses here. I don't know what your goal is.

Now, what if you want to convert from rbg|a to hsl|a?

Answer 3

Unity3D C# Code from Mohsen's answer.

Here is the code from Mohsen's answer in C# targeted specifically for Unity3D. It was adapted from the C# answer given by Alec Thilenius above.

using UnityEngine;
using System.Collections;

public class ColorTools {

    /// <summary>
    /// Converts an HSL color value to RGB.
    /// Input: Vector4 ( X: [0.0, 1.0], Y: [0.0, 1.0], Z: [0.0, 1.0], W: [0.0, 1.0] )**strong text**
    /// Output: Color ( R: [0.0, 1.0], G: [0.0, 1.0], B: [0.0, 1.0], A: [0.0, 1.0] )
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="hsl">Vector4 defining X = h, Y = s, Z = l, W = a. Ranges [0, 1.0]</param>
    /// <returns>RGBA Color. Ranges [0.0, 1.0]</returns>
    public static Color HslToRgba(Vector4 hsl)
    {
        float r, g, b;

        if (hsl.y == 0.0f)
            r = g = b = hsl.z;
        else
        {
            var q = hsl.z < 0.5f ? hsl.z * (1.0f + hsl.y) : hsl.z + hsl.y - hsl.z * hsl.y;
            var p = 2.0f * hsl.z - q;
            r = HueToRgb(p, q, hsl.x + 1.0f / 3.0f);
            g = HueToRgb(p, q, hsl.x);
            b = HueToRgb(p, q, hsl.x - 1.0f / 3.0f);
        }

        return new Color(r, g, b, hsl.w);
    }

    // Helper for HslToRgba
    private static float HueToRgb(float p, float q, float t)
    {
        if (t < 0.0f) t += 1.0f;
        if (t > 1.0f) t -= 1.0f;
        if (t < 1.0f / 6.0f) return p + (q - p) * 6.0f * t;
        if (t < 1.0f / 2.0f) return q;
        if (t < 2.0f / 3.0f) return p + (q - p) * (2.0f / 3.0f - t) * 6.0f;
        return p;
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Converts an RGB color value to HSL.
    /// Input: Color ( R: [0.0, 1.0], G: [0.0, 1.0], B: [0.0, 1.0], A: [0.0, 1.0] )
    /// Output: Vector4 ( X: [0.0, 1.0], Y: [0.0, 1.0], Z: [0.0, 1.0], W: [0.0, 1.0] )
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="rgba"></param>
    /// <returns></returns>
    public static Vector4 RgbaToHsl(Color rgba)
    {

        float max = (rgba.r > rgba.g && rgba.r > rgba.b) ? rgba.r : 
            (rgba.g > rgba.b) ? rgba.g : rgba.b;
        float min = (rgba.r < rgba.g && rgba.r < rgba.b) ? rgba.r : 
            (rgba.g < rgba.b) ? rgba.g : rgba.b;

        float h, s, l;
        h = s = l = (max + min) / 2.0f;

        if (max == min)
            h = s = 0.0f;
        else
        {
            float d = max - min;
            s = (l > 0.5f) ? d / (2.0f - max - min) : d / (max + min);

            if (rgba.r > rgba.g && rgba.r > rgba.b)
                h = (rgba.g - rgba.b) / d + (rgba.g < rgba.b ? 6.0f : 0.0f);

            else if (rgba.g > rgba.b)
                h = (rgba.b - rgba.r) / d + 2.0f;

            else
                h = (rgba.r - rgba.g) / d + 4.0f;

            h /= 6.0f;
        }

        return new Vector4(h, s, l, rgba.a);
    }

}

Answer 4

I needed a really light weight one, Its not 100%, but it gets close enough for some usecases.

float3 Hue(float h, float s, float l)
{
    float r = max(cos(h * 2 * UNITY_PI) * 0.5 + 0.5, 0);
    float g = max(cos((h + 0.666666) * 2 * UNITY_PI) * 0.5 + 0.5, 0);
    float b = max(cos((h + 0.333333) * 2 * UNITY_PI) * 0.5 + 0.5, 0);
    float gray = 0.2989 * r + 0.5870 * g + 0.1140 * b;
    return lerp(gray, float3(r, g, b), s) * smoothstep(0, 0.5, l) + 1 * smoothstep(0.5, 1, l);
}

Answer 5

For when you need RGB to HSV and vice versa instead:

function rgbToHsv(r, g, b)
{
    r /= 255, g /= 255, b /= 255;

    var min = Math.min(r, g, b),
    max = Math.max(r, g, b),
    delta = max - min,
    h = 0, s = 0, v = max;

    if (min != max)
    {
        s = (delta / max);

        switch (max)
        {
            case r: h = (g - b) / delta + (g < b ? 6 : 0); break;
            case g: h = (b - r) / delta + 2; break;
            case b: h = (r - g) / delta + 4; break;
        }

        h /= 6;
    }

    return [h, s, v];
}

function hsvToRgb(h, s, v)
{
    var step = h / (1 / 6),
    pos = step - Math.floor(step), // the hue position within the current step
    m = (Math.floor(step) % 2) ? (1 - pos) * v : pos * v, // mix color value adjusted to the brightness(v)
    max = 1 * v,
    min = (1 - s) * v,
    med = m + ((1 - s) * (v - m)),
    r, g, b;

    switch (Math.floor(step))
    {
        case 0:
            r = max;
            g = med;
            b = min;
            break;
        case 1:
            r = med;
            g = max;
            b = min;
            break;
        case 2:
            r = min;
            g = max;
            b = med;
            break;
        case 3:
            r = min;
            g = med;
            b = max;
            break;
        case 4:
            r = med;
            g = min;
            b = max;
            break;
        case 5:
            r = max;
            g = min;
            b = med;
            break;
    }

    return [Math.round(r * 255), Math.round(g * 255), Math.round(b * 255)];
}

Answer 6

If you're looking for something that definitely conforms with the CSS semantics for HSL and RGB, you could use the algorithm specified in the CSS 3 specification, which reads:

HOW TO RETURN hsl.to.rgb(h, s, l): 
   SELECT: 
      l<=0.5: PUT l*(s+1) IN m2
      ELSE: PUT l+s-l*s IN m2
   PUT l*2-m2 IN m1
   PUT hue.to.rgb(m1, m2, h+1/3) IN r
   PUT hue.to.rgb(m1, m2, h    ) IN g
   PUT hue.to.rgb(m1, m2, h-1/3) IN b
   RETURN (r, g, b)

HOW TO RETURN hue.to.rgb(m1, m2, h): 
   IF h<0: PUT h+1 IN h
   IF h>1: PUT h-1 IN h
   IF h*6<1: RETURN m1+(m2-m1)*h*6
   IF h*2<1: RETURN m2
   IF h*3<2: RETURN m1+(m2-m1)*(2/3-h)*6
   RETURN m1

I believe this is the source for some of the other answers here.