This paper proposes a simple spectral radiance backward characterization model based on the key wavelength strategy. The color difference of spectral wavelength radiance amplitude loss under different conditions, the spectral amplitude change of primary color, and the monotonicity of spectral amplitude were investigated. The key wavelengths were selected based on these three factors. We innovatively introduced the selected wavelengths into a backward characterization interpolation table, which was tested using different color samples. The experimental results indicate that the proposed model is more suitable for spectral backward characterization than the existing methods.