Color Temperature Scale Visualize the warm-to-cool color temperature scale in Kelvin.

The Kelvin to RGB conversion uses Tanner Helland's algorithm based on the Planckian locus — the path a black body radiator traces through color space as its temperature increases. For temperatures ≤6600K, red is at 255 and green increases logarithmically; blue increases logarithmically above 2000K. Above 6600K, red and green decrease as power functions while blue reaches 255. The algorithm approximates the CIE 1931 chromaticity of a black body at the given temperature, converted to sRGB. This conversion assumes an ideal black body radiator — real light sources deviate from this curve (fluorescent lights have significant deviations). The D65 illuminant (standard daylight) corresponds to approximately 6500K. Photography white balance works by compensating for the difference between the scene's color temperature and the camera's reference temperature.