Confusion about colour temperatures

StevieParmentier · Apr 22, 2011

Hey all, I just joined up since I'm going to invest more time into photography in the future but I have a few questions concerning temperatures that confuses me.

I'm reading everywhere to use 6500K (some say 5000K) for my screen when calibrating. Using my Eye-One, I noticed that the image is very yellow, however, which is said to be normal and that my eyes would adjust. My eyes, however, never adjust and what I expect to be light grey, remains yellowish.

I assume that the 6500K is so you have the same colours after a print based on regular light conditions? Because I feel a lot more at ease editing my images when I calibrate set at 7500K - so that grey is truly grey without feeling too yellow. A nice white dress, for example, looks too warm - even when I print it, the white is whiter than what I get on screen (and this after calibrating the screen properly - the colour gamut -standard sRGB- is almost 100% accurate).

So am I missing something? Is there another advantage to working in a 6500K environment - what if you don't intend to print your photos? Thanks for any help!

clanthar · Apr 22, 2011

Another advantage to working with 6500K as your standard display temp is: it's the standard. Standards are about working together. Let's say you play the guitar and want to join a band that includes a keyboard player, a bass player and two brass players. In music the standard is to define A as vibrating at 440 cycles per second. You show up for practice and announce that you like to keep your guitar tuned to A = 415 because you think it sounds better -- that'll bring practice to an abrupt end.

6500K is our industry's accepted standard. Standards are developed over time and usually with some give and take since there can be arguments for some variation. You noted the 5000K option. 30 years ago some folks in the press industry were advocating 5000K as appropriate. I remember trying to work on 5000K displays and over time we moved away from those. Old Apple/Sony CRTs used to ship with 4 push-button color temps built in: 5000K, 6500K, 7500K and 9300K. It's been about 40 years now since the first applied digital imaging systems started going commercial. In that time the professional community has worked through and adopted "best fit" standards where possible. 6500K is one of those standards.

Joe

StevieParmentier · Apr 22, 2011

I guess it's good to have a standard, although I'm still a little confused why the standard would be more yellow than what you actually get in print these days. I always assumed that it was about coupling print to screen.

A note: with LED screens, it seems a lot more people are naturally moving away from 6500K, I read and heard, because while regular LCD screens tended to have a yellowish tint over time (which didn't affect 6500K as much), LED keeps a nice almost pure-white look which allows for a wider gamut of colours (better blues and reds especially because there's less green in there) so we may well see the industry standard shift to 7000+ soon.

I think I'll stick with the 7500K I'm using right now - I've calibrated my photo printer and the results seem much more accurate than with 6500K - I really can't get white areas to look right this way and my orange colours look "off" as well.

Derrel · Apr 22, 2011

In the USA, we drive on the right hand side of the road...that's SOP or Standard Operating Procedure. In the USA, we "keep to the right" when we go down the grocery store aisles, and when we walk in public hallways, sidewalks, and corridors; have you ever noticed how sometimes,usually around the major holidays, foreigners mess up grocery store cart traffic because they do not keep to the right, and are CONSTANTLY in the way of 95% of the others who know what the standard is? In the USA, it is standard to eat your soup and food quietly, without slurping; in some foreign countries, the standard dictates that you slurp your noodles or soup LOUDLY, and that at the end of a good meal you let out a loud belch...

Why,exactly these standards mentioned above developed is uncertain...but one thing is certain...it's a PITA to buck the standards because you think "your way" is better, or more proper. "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." Set 'er at 6.500 degrees Kelvin.

kundalini · Apr 22, 2011

You set the WB (white balance or color temperature) to closely simulate the actual shooting conditions you're in.... or.... to tweak as you see fit for your own vision of the image

The Nikon and Adobe products that I use have presets for color temperature. That doesn't mean that I will use those values, but it is a starting off point. 6500K is usually set for cloudy conditions, 5500K for daylight and flash. If you prefer your images warmer at 7500K, that is your prerogative.