The USDA, AMS, Cotton Program conducted a pilot project during the 1998 classing season to implement an adjustment to the existing High Volume Instrument (HVI) color grades in an effort to make them more closely match the Universal Cotton Standards used by classers for official color grade determination. The Cotton Program developed this pilot project over the past several months in conjunction with the National Cotton Council Quality Task Force with the goal in mind of improving the HVI color grade determinations. The project produced positive results using the 1998 crop data resulting in a promising outlook for future instrument color classification.