How to change the color temperature of my photos for on a Led display, in a correct way

[Murk S]

I have to adapt the color temperature of forty of my portrait photos, they will be printed on a backlit foil and dilaye on a led display. The led displays have a temperature of 6600 Kelvin. The testprint on the display looks far too blue. On a window the color was perfect, looks just like the print on Ilford fine art paper. The temperature of the daylight was about 5300 Kelvin. What will be the best way to adapt the color temperature of my photos in a way the photos on the led displays will look more naturaly, like the printed photo and the photo on the window? Is there a kind of soft proofing for a backlight with a defined color temparature in Lightroom (I prefer because of my workflow) or Photoshop CC?

[Todd Shaner]

If the difference is only in the Temp Blue/Yellow component you can simply add the offset (6600-5300 = 1300). First adjust the image WB as you normally would and then add 1300 to the current LR Temp setting. That should get you very close. If there's also a WB Tint offset (Green/Magenta) in the LED backlit image you'll need calculate and adjust it as well, which may be more difficult.

Can you can view the backlit printed image side-by-side with the LR screen image? If so that may be the easiest way to determine the required WB corrections. Create a virtual copy of the portrait image file that has been printed and can be viewed on the backlit display. Adjust the virtual copy WB Temp and Tint until the two images look the same. Calculate the difference in Temp and Tint settings and then add the opposite value to the current settings showing in the original image. For example:

Original Image WB:        5200 Temp, +10 Tint

Virtual Copy WB:            3900 Temp, +30 Tint

WB Difference:              -1300 Temp, +20 Tint

WB Correction Values:    1300 Temp, -20 Tint

Corrected WB settings:   6500 Temp, -10 Tint

[Jao vdL]

trshaner's method is probably the simplest. The 'correct' way would be to print a color test image (lots of color patches basically) on the transparencies and hang that in front of the LED display and then measuring each color patch and building a profile. Not many people have the hardware to do this.

P.S. if the LED displays are really 6600 K they really shouldn't look as blue as you are describing. The images should look similar to when they are displayed on a computer monitor. It sounds like they actually are quite a bit higher color temperature. Another trick might be to use a filter on the LED displays to lower their color temperature a bit.

[Todd Shaner]

https://forums.adobe.com/people/Jao+vdL  wrote

P.S. if the LED displays are really 6600 K they really shouldn't look as blue as you are describing. The images should look similar to when they are displayed on a computer monitor. It sounds like they actually are quite a bit higher color temperature.

I thought the same and wondered if the OP is using a calibrated display.  Regardless, the method I described should work fairly well if the only issue is color temperature difference (WB Temp & Tint). If it requires more than that a soft proof color profile for the transparency film would help.

Murk-Foto what type of transparency are you using and where is it being printed? Ask them if they have a soft proof color profile.

[Murk S]

trshaner​ Thanx for your very extensive answers, we planned to do it the way you suggested in your first reply. But in the meantime the graphic designer decided to let the printing company do the job. We will have the result of two testprints in a few weeks time, after a short leave we have. I will come back to you when I have the results.

[Murk S · Accepted solution]

Hi trshaner​. I forgot to come back to you. We decided to try an LED-display with a color temperature from around 5.500 K. On a test LED-display with color temperature 5.300 K it looked fantastic. So we will use those displays. Thanx again.

[Todd Shaner]

Thanks for reporting back and glad to hear that worked well for you. I'll mark this post as 'Answered.'