What this converter does
This converter turns a colour temperature in kelvin into mired and back. Mired (micro reciprocal degrees) equals a million divided by the kelvin value, so warm 2700 K light is 370 mired and cool 6500 K daylight is 154 mired. Type a value and read the result instantly.
Mired matters because equal mired steps look like equal colour shifts, which is why lighting filters are rated in mired.
The units it covers
Two ways to express the same colour of light — a temperature (K) and its reciprocal micro-scale (mired).
View all units & their values
| Unit | Symbol | Value | Mainly used |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kelvin | K | CCT | Correlated colour temperature of a light source |
| Mired | MK⁻¹ | 10⁶⁄K | Micro reciprocal degree — used for filters and shifts |
The formula
Mired is a million divided by the temperature in kelvin — a reciprocal, not a factor:
mired = 1,000,000 ÷ K (and K = 1,000,000 ÷ mired)Where:
- K = correlated colour temperature, in kelvin
- mired = micro reciprocal degrees (MK⁻¹)
Worked example
Convert warm-white 2700 K to mired.
mired = 1,000,000 ÷ K1,000,000 ÷ 2700 = 370.4 miredSo 2700 K warm-white light is about 370 mired.
The units in this example
Correlated colour temperature — how warm or cool a white light looks. Lower is warmer (redder), higher is cooler (bluer).
- 2700 K = 370 mired (warm white)
- 4000 K = 250 mired (neutral)
- 6500 K = 154 mired (daylight)
- K = 10⁶ ÷ mired
Micro reciprocal degrees. Equal mired steps are equal perceived colour shifts, so gel and filter strengths are given in mired.
- 154 mired = 6500 K
- 250 mired = 4000 K
- 370 mired = 2700 K
- mired = 10⁶ ÷ K