Why is the range for manual white balance so limited at the bottom and top?

Question

I am learning about white balance and everything related to it. Minimal setting for white balance in Lightroom is limited to 2000K (for example the candle light can be around 1600K). I remember one time I had a problem; it was an outdoor night scene with very red-colored street lights, and in that case I had to push my white balance to the minimum value (in Lightroom) of 2000K, and it was still a bit not enough. The question: how do developers of cameras, raw converters, etc. pick the min and max value for white balance slider? Is there any science behind it?

Answer 1

It is based on the correction factor of lights used daily. Since most lights range from 3200 to 6500. That is the standard range. Then assuming that at the most the error of that temp does not exceed 50% of the original value. Then that would be 2000 to 9000. What you are experiencing now is called - Clipping the Gamut. These types of corrections are to be done in the camera while using the camera on site. That would mean that a White Balance screen should be used. Then using that value the camera will be much closer to a "Normal" value. THEN. You can do the final corrections after the fact. This would eliminate any problems with clipping the gamut, or needing to do a double correction. In this case. Output the file and export it. Then redo the color correction again. Depending on gamut, it may work.