Color Temperature Converter
Translate lighting temperatures from kelvin to mired and approximate RGB coordinates so you can balance cameras, gels, and fixtures without guess work. Enter any kelvin value within the practical lighting range to see immediate conversions.
| Mired value | |
|---|---|
| Approximate RGB |
Understanding color temperature
Color temperature describes the hue of a light source by comparing it to an ideal blackbody radiator. Cooler light appears bluish and has a higher temperature, while warmer light looks orange or red. Photographers, videographers, and lighting designers rely on this measurement to balance scenes. A candle might burn around 1800 K, whereas midday sun can reach 5500 K or more. Awareness of these values helps match fixtures and keep colors consistent when moving from one environment to another.
The mired scale in MathML
While kelvin is convenient, small changes in low temperatures produce more noticeable shifts than the same changes at high temperatures. To account for this perception, cinematographers use micro reciprocal degrees (mireds). The conversion follows the reciprocal formula:
where represents mireds and denotes kelvin. To reverse the process, swap the variables so
.
Converting to mired distributes differences more evenly across the visible spectrum, making it easier to calculate gel strengths for correction filters or match different fixtures quickly.
RGB approximation
Digital workflows often require RGB previews. The calculator applies a widely used approximation to emulate how each channel brightens as temperature rises. Below about 6600 K, red stays nearly saturated while green climbs logarithmically. Blue only begins to dominate above 2000 K. For hotter sources, red and green taper via power-law falloffs. The final values are clamped between 0 and 255 for display purposes.
| Source | Kelvin | Mired |
|---|---|---|
| Candle flame | 1800 | 556 |
| Tungsten bulb | 3200 | 312 |
| Midday sun | 5500 | 182 |
| Overcast sky | 6500 | 154 |
| Clear blue sky | 12000 | 83 |
Scenario planning
Every conversion generates a set of lighting scenarios so you can plan gel packs or white balance adjustments. The table below illustrates how a single kelvin value behaves across multiple environments.
| Scenario | Adjusted Kelvin | Mired | Notes |
|---|
Real-world considerations
Real light sources often deviate from ideal blackbody behavior. Fluorescent lamps, LEDs, and discharge tubes produce spectral spikes a single number cannot capture. Still, color temperature remains a useful shorthand. When exact accuracy matters, use a color meter that measures multiple wavelengths and calculates precise chromaticity coordinates.
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