Benjamin Moore's ColorReader can match your paint with your shirt

It'll even suggest paint from rivals.

Benjamin Moore thinks it has a more reliable way to match house paints than taking photos and comparing them with examples at the store. It's releasing two ColorReader devices and a companion Color Portfolio app that can match colors sampled from any flat surface with not only Benjamin Moore's paint selection, but those of "other leading brands." You could find the exact shade of crimson for your living room by sampling your shirt, if that's your thing.

The app does more than just tell you what paints to consider. It also offers photo and video visualizers so you can preview how a given color will look in your room before you break out the paint rollers.

You can buy the standard ColorReader now both online and at some stores for $99, while a $249 ColorReader Pro adds an OLED screen to display your results as well as on-device storage for over 10,000 colors. Yes, this is ultimately meant to draw you into the company's stores instead of shopping one of the numerous alternatives, but it could be genuinely helpful if you're trying to nail an exact look.

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