What is color temperature?

Color temperature describes how warm or cool a light looks, measured in kelvin (K). It comes from the glow of a heated object: red at about 1000 K, orange and warm white around 2000 to 3000 K, neutral white around 4000 to 5000 K, and bluish white from about 6500 K up. Lamps, smart bulbs, cameras and photo editors use it to set the color of white light. Many smart-home apps use mireds instead, which is one million divided by the kelvin value (4000 K is 250 mired).

Tool description

The Color to Kelvin Converter finds the color temperature of a HEX, RGB, HSL or other color. Enter or paste a color, or pick one, and the tool shows the closest temperature in kelvin, the same value in mireds, and the light color of that temperature. It works the other way round from the Kelvin to Color Converter, so a color you got there converts back to the same temperature.

The tool looks for the light color with the same hue, whatever the brightness, so a dim orange gets the same temperature as a bright one. Only warm oranges, whites and light blues match a real light color. For a color far from all of them, like green, purple or a deep blue, the tool shows the closest temperature with a warning that it's only an estimate.

Features

  • Converts HEX, RGB, HSL and other color formats to kelvin
  • Shows the mired value for smart bulbs and home automation
  • Shows the matching light color, ready to copy
  • Warns when a color is too far from any light color for an exact match

Examples

  • #FFD1A3 is 4000 K (250 mired), a neutral white
  • #FFB46B is 2988 K (335 mired), a warm white like a halogen bulb
  • #FF8B14 is 2005 K (499 mired), a candle-like orange
  • #C9DAFF is 10447 K (96 mired), the cool blue of a clear sky
  • #FFFFFF is about 6600 K (152 mired), close to daylight