Mired

Close up of the Planckian locus in the CIE 1960 color space

Isotherms in mireds

Isotherms in kelvins

Note the even spacing of the isotherms when using the reciprocal temperature scale. The even spacing of the isotherms on the locus implies that the mired scale is a better measure of perceptual color difference than the temperature scale. The range of isothermal color temperatures for both diagrams is from 1000 K (1000 MK−1) to 10000 K (100 MK−1).

Contracted from the term micro reciprocal degree, the mired (/ˈmaɪrɛd/[citation needed]) is a unit of measurement used to express color temperature. Values in mireds are calculated by the formula:

M = 1 000 000 K T , {\displaystyle M={\frac {1\,000\,000\,{\text{K}}}{T}},}

where T is the colour temperature in units of kelvins and M denotes the resulting mired dimensionless number. The constant 1000000 K is one million kelvins.

The SI term for this unit is the reciprocal megakelvin (MK−1), shortened to mirek, but this term has not gained traction.[1]

For convenience, decamireds are sometimes used, with a decamired equaling ten mireds.

The use of the term mired dates back to Irwin G. Priest's observation in 1932 that the just-noticeable difference between two illuminants is directly related to the difference of the reciprocals of their temperatures, rather than to the difference in their temperatures.[2]

A blue sky, which has a color temperature T of about 25000 K, has a mired value of M = 40 mireds, while a standard electronic photography flash, having a color temperature T of 5000 K, has a mired value of M = 200 mireds.

In photography, mireds are used to indicate the color temperature shift provided by a filter or gel for a given film and light source. For instance, to use daylight film (5700 K) to take a photograph under a tungsten light source (3200 K) without introducing a color cast, one would need a corrective filter or gel providing a mired shift

10 6 5700 − 10 6 3200 ≈ − 137   MK − 1 . {\displaystyle {\frac {10^{6}}{5700}}-{\frac {10^{6}}{3200}}\approx -137~{\text{MK}}^{-1}.}

This corresponds to a color temperature blue (CTB) filter.[5][6] Color gels with negative mired values appear green or blue, while those with positive values appear amber or red.

A number of mathematical methods, including Robertson's, calculate the correlated color temperature of a light source from its chromaticity values. These methods exploit the relatively even spacing of the mired unit internally.[7]

Apple's HomeKit uses the mired unit for specifying color temperature.[8]