Read the bands from left to right, with the tolerance band usually on the right
Identify the resistor type by the number of bands
For 4-band resistors:
First band = first digit
Second band = second digit
Third band = multiplier
Fourth band = tolerance
For 5-band resistors:
First band = first digit
Second band = second digit
Third band = third digit
Fourth band = multiplier
Fifth band = tolerance
For 6-band resistors:
First band = first digit
Second band = second digit
Third band = third digit
Fourth band = multiplier
Fifth band = tolerance
Sixth band = temperature coefficient
Color to digit mapping:
Black = 0
Brown = 1
Red = 2
Orange = 3
Yellow = 4
Green = 5
Blue = 6
Violet = 7
Gray = 8
White = 9
Multiplier colors:
Black = ×1
Brown = ×10
Red = ×100
Orange = ×1,000
Yellow = ×10,000
Green = ×100,000
Blue = ×1,000,000
Gold = ×0.1
Silver = ×0.01
Tolerance colors:
Brown = ±1%
Red = ±2%
Green = ±0.5%
Blue = ±0.25%
Violet = ±0.1%
Gray = ±0.05%
Gold = ±5%
Silver = ±10%
No band = ±20%
Temperature coefficient colors:
Brown = 100 ppm/°C
Red = 50 ppm/°C
Orange = 15 ppm/°C
Yellow = 25 ppm/°C
Blue = 10 ppm/°C
Violet = 5 ppm/°C
Example 4-band code:
Yellow, Violet, Red, Gold = 4, 7, ×100, ±5% = 4.7 kΩ ±5%
Example 5-band code:
Brown, Black, Black, Red, Brown = 1, 0, 0, ×100, ±1% = 10 kΩ ±1%