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TV Color Temp: What do Dev's say is the preferred Color Temp?

Hawk269

Hawk269

Member
With all the talk of 4k, HDR etc. with the release of Xbox One S & PS4 Pro/PS4 HDR update, I was wondering what developers suggest to consumers the proper color temperature for our sets? I know that movie studios author their movies in the Warm/Warm 2 setting or Expert/Expert 1 (different TV's call it different things). But I never heard from a developer when they make a game what color temp. do they create the game in.

Can any devs offer input on what is the preferred color temperature we should have our sets in? I know the majority of retailers have TV's displayed using "torch" mode where everything is blown out and the color temp is set to Cool, but this adds a blue hue to everything and does not look natural and taking personal preferences to color temperature as each person may like different things aside, what do dev's recommend as the best color temp so the game looks like the artist/dev's intended them to look?
 
Warm 2 is usually the way to go for natural lighting. I'm interested to see what devs feel is the best.
 
I'm a filthy Cool 2 which is even cooler than Cool 1 on my Samsung TV, even though it definitely leans to make things "more blue". I don't know though, it just makes the whites more vibrant to me.

Also curious on other's thoughts
 
Get used to warm and you'll never go back. It only looks yellow while you're sitting there flipping settings back and forth. The next step warmer will always look yellow after looking at a cool image. And those cool images will look garish and radioactive when you get used to warmer settings.
 
h3ro said:
Warm 2 is usually the way to go for natural lighting. I'm interested to see what devs feel is the best.
Click to expand...

Is "Warm 2" a universal color temperature?

I tend to set my sets to "Warm". I typically try to get displays as close to 5500k as possible, which many people feel looks too 'yellow'.
 
Warm is never the answer for me. Makes everything yellow.

I believe there's a "natural" on my tv that seems to strike a good balance between warm and cool, but assuming I had to pick between warm and cool, I'd pick cool every time. Cool may introduce a bit of blue, but whites still look much more "white" at that temp.
 
Uh, non?

Why not just leave it at neutral and calibrate your TV to display the colors properly?
I don't think developers waste a dime on something as useless as your TV manufacturer's arbitrary color temperature setting.
 
FinKL said:
I'm a filthy Cool 2 which is even cooler than Cool 1 on my Samsung TV, even though it definitely leans to make things "more blue". I don't know though, it just makes the whites more vibrant to me.

Also curious on other's thoughts
Click to expand...

That color isn't a vibrant white. It's blue. You're looking at blue.
Krusenstern said:
Uh, non?

Why not just leave it at neutral and calibrate your TV to display the colors properly?
I don't think developers waste a dime on something as useless as your TV manufacturer's arbitrary color temperature setting.
Click to expand...
Most calibrations bring you to the Warmer side naturally. For those not doing a full calibration, this will bring them to a more natural picture quicker or without all the effort and equipment needed for a proper calibration.
 
John Rabbit said:
Is "Warm 2" a universal color temperature?

I tend to set my sets to "Warm". I typically try to get displays as close to 5500k as possible, which many people feel looks too 'yellow'.
Click to expand...

For movies and TV Warm 2 is the standard that producers author the movies/tv shows in. They recommend Warm 2 as does every single profession calibrator does as well.

For gaming however, I never really heard what a dev/artist uses when creating games. I am hoping we get a few devs to give us some insight on when making the games do they use Warm 2 as well?
 
Hawk269 said:
I know that movie studios author their movies in the Warm/Warm 2 setting
Click to expand...

I've not heard this, but I assume this is Hollywood you're talking about?
ie Sunny California?

Because Northern Europe tend to use Cool as a natural tone, not Warm due to climate.
 
Since games are made using PC monitors, devs are likely using the sRGB color space. So you should calibrate according to that. The kicker is that sRGB doesn't specifically define a color temp in their standards because they assume you calibrate based off of ambient light in the room. 6500K is a good recommend starting point.
 
I tend to use one of the 'Cool' settings but my new TV and my current monitors have a 'Natural' setting that works well for me with only minor tweaking.
 
LordRaptor said:
I've not heard this, but I assume this is Hollywood you're talking about?
ie Sunny California?

Because Northern Europe tend to use Cool as a natural tone, not Warm due to climate.
Click to expand...

Yes, Hollywood movie studios. I have a friend that is a professional calibrator and he has calibrated professional monitors for several studios/TV Studios and they all use Warm 2 as the setting when making movies/TV shows.

However, gaming is a different thing and I always wondered what they use when creating games. Ultimately it is down to personal preference, but it would be nice to hear what developers have to say as they create their vision of a game what color temp they use.
 
What about the display setting such as "theatre or RGB" . What's the general consensus on that?

Just checking my two monitors I have then set to standard for both settings and color. Warm seems ok but it does make GAf more yellow. Maybe I'm used to cooler settings.
 
Hawk269 said:
For movies and TV Warm 2 is the standard that producers author the movies/tv shows in. They recommend Warm 2 as does every single profession calibrator does as well.

For gaming however, I never really heard what a dev/artist uses when creating games. I am hoping we get a few devs to give us some insight on when making the games do they use Warm 2 as well?
Click to expand...

And this is why I always use Warm 2, don't see why it would be different for games. But I'm also curious to know what the devs have to say about this.
 
If you can, have it professionally calibrated. I've had my last few tvs done by the same guy, and its awesome. Color temp depends on how much or how little light you have in your room.
 
Trail Guide said:
What about the display setting such as "theatre or RGB" . What's the general consensus on that?

Just checking my two monitors I have then set to standard for both settings and color. Warm seems ok but it does make GAf more yellow. Maybe I'm used to cooler settings.
Click to expand...

You calibrate for how natural light where you live looks.
Warm/Warm2 doesn't look 'natural' in colder climates.
 
I always go for cool

That being said I'm pretty sure neutral is what most devs would say

Let the warm vs cool wars begin!
 
Always on the warm side of things, can't go back to cool modes its all blueish to me now.
 
If I'm doing an "eyeball calibration" where I just sit with the remote and dick with settings, see how it looks, change it, change it back etc. like most noobs do then it's really tempting to stick with cool because we tend to judge things by how bright the whites are (clothes, teeth, etc.). But if you can get past that mental block when you first make the temp change and stick to warm, the overall picture and colors are better and more natural in the end. After a couple hours the whites will look white to you. It's only during that initial A/B comparison phase that they look so yellow.
 
For movies I can understand the sentiment for using a Warm color temp but gaming has always been on the vibrant side and I feel like neutral or cool match it better. Even if it's not "accurate" it looks better IMO. PC monitors in genera are also notorious for this, having very vivid colors that are more cool than warm.
 
malfcn said:
Cool.

I'll take a bit of blue over yellow anyday.
Click to expand...
If display is properly calibrated they are yellow only compared to blue-mess that is cool mode whites. And only for a short time until your eyes adjust. You will notice how everything looks more natural in a day or two.
 
It really depends on the TV or monitor. Warm settings can absolutely look like dog shit on certain sets, and in that case you probably just want to stay neutral and do an eye calibration. You can also look up TV forums that list proper settings.
 
I'm way into calibrated displays so I was puzzled when I saw that warm2 is the way to go. Flipping back and forth it did seem yellow. But I finally took the plunge last night and within 20 minutes it seemed perfectly fine. Most of us are used to cooler screens I think.
 
Wildschwein said:
Get used to warm and you'll never go back. It only looks yellow while you're sitting there flipping settings back and forth. The next step warmer will always look yellow after looking at a cool image. And those cool images will look garish and radioactive when you get used to warmer settings.
Click to expand...

Yes. Perceived color temp involves a number of factors ranging from the person and their eyesight, ambient lighting etc. Going warmer is more accurate to real life. Warm color temp or 6500K represents an ordinary and pleasant sunny afternoon.

h3ro said:
That color isn't a vibrant white. It's blue. You're looking at blue.

Most calibrations bring you to the Warmer side naturally. For those not doing a full calibration, this will bring them to a more natural picture quicker or without all the effort and equipment needed for a proper calibration.
Click to expand...

Also this.

Hawk269 said:
For movies and TV Warm 2 is the standard that producers author the movies/tv shows in. They recommend Warm 2 as does every single profession calibrator does as well.

For gaming however, I never really heard what a dev/artist uses when creating games. I am hoping we get a few devs to give us some insight on when making the games do they use Warm 2 as well?
Click to expand...

Since games now lean towards realistic graphics, I think some of the general guidelines of television and film begin to apply.
 
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