What is Kelvin Temperature (K)

What is Kelvin Temperature (K)

Kelvin temperature describes the color temperature of light sources. It is a unit of measurement based on the Kelvin scale, which is an absolute temperature scale. The Kelvin scale starts at absolute zero, the point at which all molecular motion ceases, and measures the energy of molecules and atoms.

In the context of lighting, Kelvin temperature is used to quantify the color appearance of light emitted by a light source. It provides a standardized scale to categorize and compare the color characteristics of different light sources. The Kelvin temperature scale ranges from warm to cool tones, with lower values indicating warmer, more yellowish light, and higher values indicating cooler, bluish light.

Kelvin Temperature (K) is not a measure of the actual temperature of the light source, but rather a measure of the color appearance. It allows lighting professionals to select and match light sources with specific color characteristics to achieve desired lighting effects or create specific atmospheres in various applications.