Unit of measurement: Kelvin [K]
The color temperature of a light source is defined in comparison with a “black body radiator” and plotted on what is known as the “Planckian curve” as seen in below figure .
The higher the temperature of this “black body radiator” the greater the blue component in the spectrum and the smaller the red component. An incandescent lamp with a warm white light, for example, has a color temperature of 2700K, whereas a daylight fluorescent lamp has a color temperature of 6000.
Light color
The light color of a lamp can be neatly defined in terms of color temperature. There are three main categories here:
- Warm White < 3300 K – Cool White 3300 to 5000 K – Daylight > 5000 K
Despite having the same light color, lamps may have very different color rendering properties owing to the spectral composition of their light.
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