Bitcoin Unit Colour Chart

[julz]

e.g  for 0.00159265   - that'd just be displayed in blue, perhaps with the blue mBTC logo alongside.

I would have thought if you're writing 0.00159265 BTC that you'd display it in gold, and only display it in blue if you're writing it as 1.59265 mBTC.

Correct. I commented before that this example was poor. My bad.

What I was thinking of there was a confirmation phase - where a UI might indicate that the scale of that number was mBTC by also displaying the equivalent 1.59265 mBTC blue as a popup or something.

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[Thanak]

Color coding is probably a disaster waiting to happen...


How long before someone recode a client to display the wrong color on purpose to con people out of their cash.

[dayfall]

So, for example $1 will buy you 69 mBTC or 69 mBTC?

In any case, I definitely agree that 0.101 should be clearly distinguishable from 0101.  (Is 01 invalid?)  I think I would enjoy this color scheme.

[foggyb]

The Hindu-Arabic numeral system is dead! Long live Obfuscation!

You want to replace 1500 years of mathematical expressive excellence with what?

Quiet! This is progress at work. 

[julz]

So, for example $1 will buy you 69 mBTC or 69 mBTC?

In any case, I definitely agree that 0.101 should be clearly distinguishable from 0101.  (Is 01 invalid?)  I think I would enjoy this color scheme.

Sort of.. It's not intended that a single number should be displayed multicoloured.. that's a bit complex and doesn't help so much I think.
It was more so that if someone is entering data - they have visual confirmation of what unit they are working in, and also an indication of the final scale of the transaction.  
It might also be of use in price lists where a merchant might prefer to specify all prices in something such as mBTC, but provide some display of equivalent BTC at the checkout point.


e.g if someone always likes entering in using the usual whole BTC
 

Data Entry		Scale Confirmation Panel
0.069 BTC		6.9 cBTC
0.001592 BTC		1.592 mBTC
0.0004 BTC		400 uBTC
0.00000032 BTC		32 satoshi

If the BTC has deflated somewhat and someone generally uses millis for day to day transactions,
they might set their standard data entry to be mBTC
 

Data Entry		Scale Confirmation Panel
3141 mBTC		3.141 BTC
220 mBTC		22 cBTC
0.1 mBTC		100 uBTC

Over time, people would get familiar with the colours and icons and it'd help give them a feel for the size of the transaction they're dealing with.

Look.. a lot if not most people currently here on the forums probably don't need this sort of assistance.
I think however that for bitcoin to become more generally used - graphical hints will help significantly, and if some common scheme isn't settled on, it'll just be confusing.  Now perhaps I shouldn't bother pushing the issue, as whichever piece of software becomes most popular may effectively decide the standards.
I'm just throwing this out for discussion as one way of handling this sort of thing.

[netrin]

Data Entry		Scale Confirmation Panel
0.069 BTC		6.9 cBTC
0.001592 BTC		1.592 mBTC
0.0004 BTC		400 uBTC
0.00000032 BTC		32 satoshi

It's not a bad idea to standardize distinct COLOR, SHAPE, and ICON of different Bitcoin unit 'logos' (milli, micro, nano, pico would need to be quite prominent). If client designers want to express number in those colors, I think that's at best secondary.

EDIT: As dictator for the day (who has suffered through a dozen such discussions over the year), I declare the 'cent' discussion closed and buried. SI units of three (10^n3) are the only reasonable way to go: giga, mega, kilo, milli, micro, nano, pico (no deka, deci, centi, nor hexisepticenti). Satoshis (10^-8) may survive as a charming oversight.

[julz]

It's not a bad idea to standardize distinct COLOR, SHAPE, and ICON of different Bitcoin unit 'logos' (milli, micro, nano, pico would need to be quite prominent). If client designers want to express number in those colors, I think that's at best secondary.

Yeah..  for some reasonably loose definition of 'standardize' that still gives artists reasonable freedom.
I'd say it's more of a 'guideline' and I'd only push for it as a standard in so far as saying 'please don't use green for millicoins if 99% of the planet is using green for microcoins'
Agreed - the colouring of the number itself is secondary.

EDIT: As dictator for the day (who has suffered through a dozen such discussions over the year), I declare the 'cent' discussion closed and buried. SI units of three (10^n3) are the only reasonable way to go: giga, mega, kilo, milli, micro, nano, pico (no deka, deci, centi, nor hexisepticenti). Satoshis (10^-8) may survive as a charming oversight.

I've followed a few discussions around this myself..  and while I've disagreed that bitcents should disappear, my argument has mainly been that I expect the general public will expect them to exist, and will use the concept anyway.

However..  in the interests of simplicity, why not give them a chance to die out and see what happens?
so.. If you check back in my edited original post, I've ditched the bitcents and produced a simplified chart.

Thanks to everyone for the feedback. 
Perhaps this whole thread has been just yet more noise on the units topic and will be ignored anyway.. but one day something like this will stick and gain wider traction I hope.

[Alex Beckenham]

However..  in the interests of simplicity, why not give them a chance to die out and see what happens?
so.. If you check back in my edited original post, I've ditched the bitcents and produced a simplified chart.

Heh, sorry to make it even more confusing, but I think you should stick with silver as the colour that comes after gold (i.e. use silver for mBTC)

[julz]

However..  in the interests of simplicity, why not give them a chance to die out and see what happens?
so.. If you check back in my edited original post, I've ditched the bitcents and produced a simplified chart.

Heh, sorry to make it even more confusing, but I think you should stick with silver as the colour that comes after gold (i.e. use silver for mBTC)

mm.. I know what you mean..  but I strongly suspect bitcents will be used by some people even if they're not 'official'.. and they'll probably want a silver logo.
It just seems to me that 'cents' in various currencies are silver. Making the mBTC silver might make it more likely that newcomers will confuse them as being 100th of a bitcoin.

I'll await further feedback.

[julz]

Heh, sorry to make it even more confusing, but I think you should stick with silver as the colour that comes after gold (i.e. use silver for mBTC)

Perhaps think of it as a metallic silvery blue if that helps?

[ctoon6]

sorry if someone told you his already.

USE THE DAMN MU SIGN μμμμμμμμμμμμ

NOT uTORRENT μTORRENT notice the "stick" hanging off the u. μ≠u

To type this magic letter, hold alt and press 0181 on your keypad, if you do not have a keypad or use a mac, too bad.

sorry, I do sincerely apologize, this just is my pet peeve.

[Alex Beckenham]

sorry if someone told you his already.

USE THE DAMN MU SIGN μμμμμμμμμμμμ

NOT uTORRENT μTORRENT notice the "stick" hanging off the u. μ≠u

To type this magic letter, hold alt and press 0181 on your keypad, if you do not have a keypad or use a mac, too bad.

sorry, I do sincerely apologize, this just is my pet peeve.

I think these days people call it YOO Torrent, not it's real name, Micro Torrent, because of this mixup.

I guess you can't put µ in domain names either.

[julz]

sorry if someone told you his already.

USE THE DAMN MU SIGN μμμμμμμμμμμμ

NOT uTORRENT μTORRENT notice the "stick" hanging off the u. μ≠u

To type this magic letter, hold alt and press 0181 on your keypad, if you do not have a keypad or use a mac, too bad.

sorry, I do sincerely apologize, this just is my pet peeve.

Well I deliberately didn't use it in the logo because when you shrink down to 16x16 for icon size - it looks too much like a p - which might be needed for picocoins.

I sympathize somewhat with the purist point of view..  but I'm guilty of certain bias towards practicality when it comes to technology.
"if you do not have a keypad or use a mac, too bad." just isn't good enough.  

In short.. yeah.. I get your peeve..   but like I've had to suck it up and tolerate American spelling and pronunciation such as 'aluminum' .. which after all - is a slow perversion of the English language    maybe you'll just have to suck it up, grit your teeth and bear it?

Either that.. or lobby keyboard manufacturers to dedicate a key to it.
(Doesn't solve the fact that it'll be mistaken for p at small sizes though. Frankly I think μ is doomed as far as average joe on the internet is concerned)

[ctoon6]

I don't see it.

[Vod]

Well I deliberately didn't use it in the logo because when you shrink down to 16x16 for icon size - it looks too much like a p - which might be needed for picocoins.

A picocoin will never be used.  That is 0.000000000001 (12 places) which is 4 more places than is currently used.  That would be the equivalent of ten thousand of the smallest unit available right now - and how many things sell for 0.00000001 btc? 

Of course, bitcoins will increase in value, and if one btc does become worth a million dollars or so, you may see the picocoin being used.  But by that time, the community will have moved the decimal point to the right because people don't buy one million dollar items very often.

No currency will ever need 12 significant digits. 

[julz]

I don't see it.

That's all very well if the prefix makes up the entire icon!
Try putting it as a prefix to the bitcoin B at that size.

I'm no graphic artist - so perhaps with the right font choice it could be made distinct.

[ctoon6]

I don't see it.

That's all very well if the prefix makes up the entire icon!
Try putting it as a prefix to the bitcoin B at that size.

I'm no graphic artist - so perhaps with the right font choice it could be made distinct.

why would we use a logo as a sign for currency? whats wrong with typing μBTC or μɃ0.69

[julz]

Here's my attempt with a proper mu at 16x16

µB


vs

uB


ok.. so arguably the µ is better

pB


Well.. they all come out pretty bad at that scale - so perhaps my argument isn't valid..
but the p and µ do look confusable to my eye in the cruddy examples given.
An icon designer may well be able to make the distinction apparent.

[wumpus]

I generally a big fan of color-coding schemes, but doesn't using colors for the 'chips' make bitcoin even more like a casino?

[julz]

why would we use a logo as a sign for currency? whats wrong with typing μBTC or μɃ0.69

Both have their place. I find that a strange question. When I build a UI - there are times when only an icon will do.
I can see a use for 16x16 mBTC, μBTC etc icons. Perhaps some web developers will and some won't.

As modern web designs tend towards larger cleaner interfaces - the importance of the 16x16 icon might be less I guess.