Are white balance color temps universal?

I found some shots i really enjoy. Upon inspecting the exif data i noticed most of them had a color temp of 4950-4970

I opened some cr2 files with PS CS5 and proceeded to use the color temp and tint parameters that I found on the other photos... and surprisingly (to me) they came out pretty similar.

So.. lets say i took two totally different shots with two different WB settings..used the WB slector to get a proper base for the shot...Then if i put them at the same tint, color temp, sat, blacks, contrast ect ect... would that provide the same look and feel?

I guess if they all had the proper exposure right...

I dunno....

Im not even sure if this makes sense... anyone got any idea what im talking about?

I usually leave my white balance on auto (but in M mode). I took 3 exposures the other day, 2 had the same white balance, the first was different. Upon importing into Photoshop I edited the first photo to the same WB values, something like 2750 on the cyan side, -7 on the green and the photo's WB looked off. I do think the actual's exposure WB does play a part in post processing. Maybe someone else will chime in.

I would think they are not universal, I'm assuming if you're white balance is far off enough you would clip an RG or B channel's histogram and you would lose color info that would be unrecoverable no matter the post processing WB edit.

WB color temp is absolute and invariable, it is based upon the response to heating a 'black body' to different levels of actual temperature. A black body is a theoretical radiator and absorber of energy at all electromagnetic wavelengths.

Excerpting from the Wikipedia write up, "The color temperature of a light source is the temperature of an ideal black-body radiator that radiates light of comparable hue to that of the light source. Color temperature is conventionally stated in the unit of absolute temperature, the kelvin, having the unit symbol K."

http://www.treddi.com …mentalray/24col​ortemp.jpg
http://www.mediacolleg​e.com …r/colour-temperature.html

Note that 'noon sun' falls within a range of K temperatures, it is not a single value.