diff --git a/examples/common.h b/examples/common.h
index 89ab3745..8c514c9f 100644
--- a/examples/common.h
+++ b/examples/common.h
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 #include <thread>
 #include <ctime>
 #include <fstream>
+#include <sstream>
 
 #define COMMON_SAMPLE_RATE 16000
 
@@ -286,12 +287,43 @@ void sam_print_usage(int argc, char ** argv, const sam_params & params);
 // Terminal utils
 //
 
+#define SQR(X)    ((X) * (X))
+#define UNCUBE(x) x < 48 ? 0 : x < 115 ? 1 : (x - 35) / 40
 
-// Terminal color map. 10 colors grouped in ranges [0.0, 0.1, ..., 0.9]
-// Lowest is red, middle is yellow, highest is green.
+/**
+ * Quantizes 24-bit RGB to xterm256 code range [16,256).
+ */
+static int rgb2xterm256(int r, int g, int b) {
+    unsigned char cube[] = {0, 0137, 0207, 0257, 0327, 0377};
+    int av, ir, ig, ib, il, qr, qg, qb, ql;
+    av = r * .299 + g * .587 + b * .114 + .5;
+    ql = (il = av > 238 ? 23 : (av - 3) / 10) * 10 + 8;
+    qr = cube[(ir = UNCUBE(r))];
+    qg = cube[(ig = UNCUBE(g))];
+    qb = cube[(ib = UNCUBE(b))];
+    if (SQR(qr - r) + SQR(qg - g) + SQR(qb - b) <=
+        SQR(ql - r) + SQR(ql - g) + SQR(ql - b))
+        return ir * 36 + ig * 6 + ib + 020;
+    return il + 0350;
+}
+
+static std::string set_xterm256_foreground(int r, int g, int b) {
+    int x = rgb2xterm256(r, g, b);
+    std::ostringstream oss;
+    oss << "\033[38;5;" << x << "m";
+    return oss.str();
+}
+
+// Lowest is red, middle is yellow, highest is green. Color scheme from
+// Paul Tol; it is colorblind friendly https://personal.sron.nl/~pault/
 const std::vector<std::string> k_colors = {
-    "\033[38;5;196m", "\033[38;5;202m", "\033[38;5;208m", "\033[38;5;214m", "\033[38;5;220m",
-    "\033[38;5;226m", "\033[38;5;190m", "\033[38;5;154m", "\033[38;5;118m", "\033[38;5;82m",
+    set_xterm256_foreground(220,   5,  12),
+    set_xterm256_foreground(232,  96,  28),
+    set_xterm256_foreground(241, 147,  45),
+    set_xterm256_foreground(246, 193,  65),
+    set_xterm256_foreground(247, 240,  86),
+    set_xterm256_foreground(144, 201, 135),
+    set_xterm256_foreground( 78, 178, 101),
 };
 
 //