Kelvin Color Temperature
Visualize and look up Kelvin color values.
Common references
Counterintuitive: higher Kelvin is bluer (cooler-looking light), lower is warmer/orange. The numbers come from black-body radiation: a tungsten filament glows around 2700 K, the sun at noon hits about 5500 K. Use this for picking light bulbs, white-balancing photos, or matching gels.
About
Move the slider or type a Kelvin value to see what color the light looks like, plus the matching RGB and hex. Includes presets for candles, tungsten, daylight, and overcast sky.
How to use
- Pick a Kelvin value.
- See the color and hex.
FAQ
Why does higher K look bluer?+
Color temperature comes from black-body radiation. As an idealized object heats up, it glows red, then orange, then yellow, then white, then blue. So 1900 K (candle) is orange, 5500 K (noon sun) is white, 10000 K (clear blue sky) is blue.