Why don't Adobe and Nikon's white balance value agree?

Adobe's white balances appear to be "calculated" from the data. I don't find that to be particularly accurate. In general the color temperature is too low and the tint too high. 

Nikon knows the spectral characteristics of the sensor so we can guess (but don't know for sure) that their reported values are more accurate. 

I wouldn't get too hung up on reported white balance values, though, as even between color temperature meters I've seen odd differences, so it's clear that different makers are making different assumptions or using different techniques for calculating the value. What is important is to know where neutral is for an image. That's why many of us use a ColorChecker or something like WhiBal cards in the field to shoot a reference image. One shot with the reference in the frame, all the rest of the shots in that same light without it. We then sample a known color on the reference frame and create a white balance that we then use for the rest of the images shot in that light.

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