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Lights colour of lights (Kelvin)

The light temperature of a light source for white light is defined as the temperature of a hypothetical black body of which the emitted light has the same colour impression as the light source. The temperature of a colour is mainly expressed in Kelvin (K). Because of the shifting law of Wien, the wavelength of the emitted light becomes shorter when the temperature rises, and has a blue shine to it (short wavelength), whilst a high colour temperature has a red shine to it. This is opposite to the impression light has on humans. Lights with a low colour temperature are perceived to be 'warmer' than lights with a high colour temperature.

Colour and environmental light

The colour of the light that is reflected by a piece of brightly white paper depends on environmental light. When artificial light illuminates something, the colour will be different to illumination by daylight. The eye will correct this 'fake' colour thanks to the colour-sensitive cells in our eyes (the cones), as these will be exhausted faster and send less strong signals to the brain.

The most renowned colours within lighting are:

2100 - 2700K                      Flame colour, such as traditional terracotta or flame light sources

2800-3500K                        Warm white, such as traditional light bulbs

3500 - 4500K                      Soft white, a frequently used type of soft, white light

5600- 6500K                       Daylight, a light as bright as the sun during midday

 

The complete list of Kelvin colour temperatures:

Temperature (K)                Description

1200                                      Candlelight

2000                                      Sunrise and sunset

2800                                      Light bulb, sunrise and sunset

3000                                      Studio light, 3000-colour fluorescent tube light (830 is the colour 80 and the colour temperature 3000 K)

3200                                      Halogen light

3400                                      Sun in films

3500                                      An hour after sunrise

4000                                      4000-colour fluorescent tube light (840 is the colour 80 and the colour temperature 4000 K)

4200 - 4700                         Mixture of artificial light and daylight

5000                                      Camera flash, daylight ("D50" is "Daylight 5000")

5400                                      Standard value for TV

5600                                      Standard daylight

6000                                      Midday sun

6500                                      White/neutral. Standard value for computer monitor

7000 - 10000                       Heavy clouds or shadow from the north side, no direct sunlight