Color Temperature
Color
Maps Kelvin temperature (1000–12000 K) to an approximated black-body RGB using Tanner Helland's piece-wise fit. Useful for setting WB references, choosing CSS `color-temperature`-style accents, or just knowing what "warm 2700 K" actually looks like. Presets cover candle flame, tungsten, daylight (D65), camera flash, and overcast / clear sky.
- HEX#FFEDDE
- RGBrgb(255, 237, 222)
- CSScolor: #FFEDDE
Presets
Approximation by Tanner Helland; accurate ~1000–40000 K, ±100 K typical.
How to use
- Drag the slider or pick a preset to jump to a known light source.
- Read the HEX / RGB / CSS values for the swatch above.
- Type a precise Kelvin number if you need a specific temperature.
Frequently asked questions
- Why does my display look different at the same Kelvin?
- The mapping here is the theoretical Planckian (black-body) colour, before any gamma, monitor whitepoint, or chromatic-adaptation transform. Real displays run their own pipeline — values around 6500 K (D65) and 5500 K (movie / camera) are the most colour-accurate landmarks.
- Why does the curve break above ~10000 K?
- Above ~6600 K the black body becomes saturated cyan and then saturated blue. The eye perceives it as washed-out white because of chromatic adaptation, but the RGB triple really does pin red at 255 in the warm side and blue at 255 in the cool side.
- Is this what photographers mean by "white balance"?
- Sort of. WB is the inverse: a camera measures the scene's apparent temperature and applies the opposite tint so neutral subjects render neutral. The same Kelvin scale is the input — 5500 K daylight, 3200 K tungsten, etc.
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