Every digital camera made comes with a promise of making perfect pictures with the click of a button. The algorithms used to deliver on this promise, however, are by no means perfect, including the auto white balance algorithm. →

Color temperature gives a way to describe the composition of light, specifically the spectrum of colors in light used to illuminate a subject. Once we know the color temperature of the light used, we can correct the information received by the sensor to make an acceptable image. →

White light is composed of different colors and, depending on the type of light, has a different overall color. Incandescent light is more yellow than the light emitted by the sun. The unit used to describe the color of light are degrees Kelvin. It's an odd unit to understand at first, but a bit of explanation takes care of things. →