It states the colour of the light, not how much of it there is. Eight products here print a figure in kelvins, and a temperature says nothing about output, which is published — where it is published at all — in lux at a distance.
A colour temperature is a colour expressed as a temperature, by a convention that has nothing to do with how hot the lamp gets.
What the number locates
The emission is compared with the colour a theoretical black body radiates at that temperature, against the reference the CIE defines. Lower figures are warm, higher are cool. Eight titles in this catalogue print one — 5600 K on studio units, 6500 K on a small flash, and one bi-colour panel stating a range.
What it leaves out
Quantity. Output is lux at a stated distance, or lumens. One listing here publishes each. A light quoted only in kelvins has told you its colour and nothing else.
Fidelity. How colours appear under it is a rendering index, published by four listings here and absent from the rest.
Consistency when dimmed. A panel can shift colour as it is turned down. Where a maker publishes its figure at full output only, that is the condition the figure covers.
Why it matters on a set
Mixed temperatures are the most common avoidable fault in a lit picture: one daylight panel beside one tungsten lamp gives two casts in one frame that no single white balance corrects. Matching the published figures is the cheap fix, and it costs nothing to check before ordering.
What people ask before they commit
Is 5600K better than 3200K?
Neither is better; they are different colours. 3200 K is the warm cast of tungsten light, 5600 K approximates midday daylight. What matters is whether the light matches the others on the set and whether your white balance is set to it, and a bi-colour panel publishes a range — one here states 3200 K to 5600 K — precisely so it can be matched to either.
Why do two lights at the same kelvin figure look different?
Because a temperature locates the colour without describing how faithfully colours render under it. That is a separate published figure, a rendering index, which four listings here state. Two panels can agree on 5600 K and disagree visibly on a red jumper.
Last reviewed 12 September 2026