You may notice a line describing the color of light as 3000K color temperature when you look through a Specifications or Parameters table in a user guide. Do you actually know what it means? Here we’d like to introduce you to this basic figure in a full explanation.
What is color temperature?
To speak in a technical way, color temperature refers to the temperature of a black body that radiates color in comparison with the same color of a given object. Color temperature is a measurement on the color itself in Kelvin, classifying color in accordance with different features of light. *Note: A black body is an object that absorbs all incident radiations in spite of frequency or angle of that incidence.
To be more specific, light color temperature is used to explain the warm or cool degree of a light source as human eyes see. Warm white is meant for the light of orange (yellow) tones, cool white for neutral tones and daylight for slightly blue tones.
What is Kelvin?
The scientific definition for Kelvin is that, “the SI base unit of thermodynamic temperature, equal in magnitude to the degree Celsius”. In case of color temperature, Kelvin is adopted for the measurement. A higher Kelvin color temperature suggests the lights to be more blue, white and brighter while a lower one suggests the lights to be amber and yellow.
On the basis of wiki as well as the in-depth research, which is conducted by COLBOR Product Center, we have summarized a color temperature chart for you to see.
|
Color temp |
Light source |
|
1700K |
Match light |
|
1900K |
Candle |
|
2800K |
Incandescent light |
|
3000K |
Halogen and yellow fluorescent light |
|
4100K |
Moonlight |
|
4800K |
Direct sunlight |
|
5500-6000K |
Average daylight |
|
6000K |
Cloudy sky |
|
6500K |
The most common white light |
Now that, we have had some basic understanding towards 3000K color temperature which appears to be the color of fluorescent light and halogen, we shall move forward to talk about the actual light effects come from these light sources.
Effects & uses of different color temperature
When it comes to decide which LED light for video shooting to use, the Kelvin color temperature can really come in handy.
Please see the evaluation below for more further suggestions:
Less than 2000K
- Creates the effect of a dim light, pretty much like candlelight
- Used for an area that is low-light and requires only ambient illumination since it creates
2000K~3000K
- Gives off soft warm white light
- Used for indoor spaces such as bedrooms, dining rooms and living rooms and some outer spaces like balcony
3100K~4500K
- Emits bright white light
- Used for areas that require task lighting such as vanities, offices and kitchens
4600K~6500K
- Emits bright blue-white light that is close to daylight
- Used for places that demand bright illumination such as exhibition halls and working environments
6500K and more
- Emits bright blue light that is often seen in business situations
- Used for places that has higher for bright task lighting
To further describe 3000K color temperature - it is a Kelvin range that renders a warm and relaxing atmosphere. LED color temperature at this range gives off lighting which is bright enough not to cause damage to human eyes, but at the same time appearing yellow tones and not clear, therefore is used as lighting for home decoration.
COLBOR has launched daylight LED light at 5600K and bi-color video lights at 2700-6500K color temperature. They feature high CRI, preset lighting effects, intelligent working temperature control, and App control. Just go and buy one at Moman Store to level up your video lighting system.