If you have ever searched for RAM to upgrade your PCs, then you might have noticed that most RAM circuit boards, if stripped bare, are colored green. Many brands now try to add some fancy covers on the circuit board, but at its core, their usually green in color. Why is that?
Although there are technical details to the manufacturing of these circuit boards, especially regarding the type of materials used to make them, the main reason why companies went for a green color on the circuit boards is due to the need for high contrast to make quality control faster and easier for inspectors.
Most of the chips and circuits are dark in color, so manufacturers tried to mix pigments to improve the contrast. Initially, because of the resin, the boards were brown, and then, they tried adding red and blue pigments which just resulted in first, a rusty color, and then a darker brown.
Until finally, they found a nice contrast by mixing blue and yellow pigments, which gave a dark green, satisfying the criteria for high contrast and reducing eye strain for inspectors. Evolutionary biologists suggest that the reason why humans are more receptive to the green color was so that they could navigate the forests and jungles back in the day.
The adoption of green became more standard when the US military requested manufacturers to make the circuit boards green, which spilled over to commercial circuit boards, and so, it has been used to this day.
The only reason why this might change is the fact that getting the green color results in toxic fumes being released, causing harm to the environment. Some manufacturers offer "halogen-free" circuit boards, but the dominance of the green circuit boards won't seem to be challenged anytime soon.
(Image credit: Chris Ried/Unsplash)