High CRI leds, comparing R9 values, XP-G3 N219c N218b XM-L2 XP-L2

SBT70 5700k HiCRI

219C R9050 5700k

Thank you!
Finally someone has measured the SBT-70 high-cri!

I own a light with this LED. It’s as good as the R9080 Nichias, but of course way brighter, but also way more inefficient.

Luminus states an R9 of 85 for the square version of this LED (CBT-90).

Thank you, I agree Tint, CRI, and Color Temperature are all independent variables.
Also agree that Low CRI LEDs have Negative R9, which may help explain why they make red things look brown, and the palm of my hand look lifeless.

Specific to the High CRI charts I posted, it is coincidentally also true that the lights with the lowest R9 happen to also have the Greenest tint (above the BBL), and the lights with the highest R9 happen to also have the most Rosy tint (below the BBL).

Here is a Low CRI light, courtesy of maukka, with Negative R9, that happens NOT to have Green tint, in fact it lands perfectly on the BBL.

But this is a Low CRI LED, that makes Red things look Brown, and I did not make this thread to talk about them. The point of this thread was specifically to compare the R9 values of some common and popular High CRI LEDs.

I did not expect to discover that the High CRI LEDs Zebralight uses happen to have some of the lowest R9 of the group, but of course Zebras are focused on Brightness, not CRI. Most of the flashlight market is brightness driven, and Low CRI is common in the majority of offerings. So is Green tint. It seems to me that the N219b is one of the few offerings that tends to avoid Green tint, but not always.

Im such a snob about tint, that I find N219b is a personal favorite, particularly the 9080 versions.

thanks for adding to my knowledge. Will SBT70 work in an S Mini (w XM-L2 Tir)?:slight_smile:
And can you share a link to where you found those charts please?

Here is another group of R9 comparisons, for some of the 219c 2700k, 3000k, 3500k, qnd 4000k offerings from Clemence

These all happen to have more yellow/green tint than the N219b I posted earlier, and coincidentally the 219c also have R9 bars that are shorter than the two 219b in the first post.

Staticx57 probably measured that himself. I have never seen a measurement other than the one in the datasheet (it includes a simple spectrum, looks the same as here).

This LED is not produced anymore though and was hideously expensive (50$ when not on sale) and inefficient.

So what’s the best high CRI, high R9 LED that you can buy today? I hate to ask since it may tempt me to build another flashlight, but if there’s another LED that’s significantly better than the Nichia 219C D240 on 20mm MTN DTP CU - 90+ CRI 4000K, I’m certainly interested.

People in this group buy thread bought up the grail N219b LEDs such as the sw45 9080, maybe ask for help there

this chart originally by maukka shows and example set of 219C that he tested.

They are available here

Unless you run across any 219C Deviants, your best bet, as Jon stated, would be to go with 219b 9080 (sw40 and sw45) LEDs from the group buy, since they have a pedigree.

Currently available:
Maukka showed the 219c sm303 9050s from Clemence as coming closer to the ANSI BBL than the 4k and 3.5k
(sm403 and sm353).
You can always get lucky with 5 and 7 step Nichias when hunting for R9, as Jon can attest.
Lower luminance rated leds (D200 and D220) are normally a better choice for red/rosey in the 4k and under range.
As mentioned, it boils down to personal taste, with many insisting the lower CRI 219c sm505 with higher luminous flux appear to have more red in their tint than the sm503 9050, therefore YMMV…….Remembering a reflector can make a great difference, along with the level an LED is driven.

A reddish tint does not mean that the R9-value is high!

Certainly not for a technophile….however, do you have a better ‘experiential’ manner of elucidation for a layman?

Interesting presumption to say the least, regarding somebody offering information?

Does CREE have a problem beyond tint, venturing into credibility?

Does apologizing for CREEn make 40-60% R9 less objectionable?

How does that E21a look in a most existing reflector lights?
Might be less than forceful unless you gang them up, with resultant crosses and other aberrations?
How does this LED fit into the needs and intention of the OP, and person wanting to know what is available for his particular project?
Fifty cents each is a bargain to have them reflowed by Clemence, but he lives in Bali Indonésia.

My E21’s arrived from Clemence today,ordered on 8th march,so no worse than typical chinese vendor,and more reliable.

For example you can have a flashlight with a perfect “snow” white tint, but when you light things up with this light, colors look “dull”. If specificallY red objects look dull, then the R9 value is probably low.

Tint is something you can see when you light up a white surface.

The r9 value can only be seen when you light up red (maybe also dark brown) colored objects. Basically how much the color “pops” (stands out).

That is a weird comment! When somebody posts a measurement like that it’s natural to presume that he made it himself (he didn’t state the source). Maukkas measurements look different (his software calculated all of the values).

I really don’t understand the intention of some of your comments. “Apologizing for Cree”?!? I stated simple facts, that is all. Most white LEDs have 65-75CRI and very low, usually negative R9-values. That is needed for very high efficiency. So Cree high-cri LEDs with an R9-values of 40-60 and CRI of >=90 are indeed much better than standard LEDs. That’s just obvious.

Just to clear up any confusion, these are the two factors I wanted to investigate:

Which of the 10 charted LEDs has the highest R9?
Which of the 10 charted LEDs has the most Rosy tint?

Highest R9 in 219b, lower R9 in 219c and Cree.

Coincidental Observations:
The Higher the R9 the Rosier the Tint
The lower the R9 the Yellow/Greener the Tint.
the pattern is consistent for all 10 High CRI LEDs I was comparing.

Yes I did measure these myself using the software CT&A and an XRite i1 Pro Spectrophotometer


Although the sw45 219b 9080s are shown by Nichia to be on or below the ANSI BBL….the lower temperature 219b 9080s straddle the BBL.
Most 3 step 219c Nichias are centered slightly above, using the more modern binning system.

The rose/pink/magenta phosphor mix of the sw45 9080s look unreal to some, and like eye candy to others.

I also found the lens can make a big difference too. I built a Convoy S2+ with a Nichia 219C R9050 90+ CRI 4000K, and with the non-AR glass lens the beam was good, but there was an annoying yellow ring around the hotspot (ie. corona). I also noticed that there was a small crack that formed on the LED dome, which created an artifact in the beam.

So I decided to make a diffused lens from some acrylic plastic, but it made the tint a little more yellow.

I then sanded down one side of the glass lens to make it frosted and the resulting beam turned out awesome. No more corona, just a beautiful slight rosy tint. It’s more of a floody beam, but there are no artifacts at all.

I agree. I prefer the tint of my N219b over the others.
4000k N219b 9050 Lumintop Tool:

and sw45 9080:

My 4000k N219b 9080, and 9050, are less pink than my 4500k N219b 9080

I agree, the tint charts and my experience confirm that.

sw45 9080 from Clemence

Kitchen window overcast daylight 7pm in California, iPhone 8

sw 40 9050 from Illumn

No.
90CRI XP-G3 have much bigger R9 rate than most 70-80 CRI cree leds. But they look much more yellow/greener than xp-g2 3d for example.

Jon,

Id like to offer you another data point. Here is an LED I swapped into a Preon P1 (Run on high). Oslon 3000k 95 CRI. To my eyes this has both too much yellow and a tiny bit too much green. This LED will fit anywhere you have a Nichia 219X

Also the only cool white LED id consider, the Nichia E21A 6500k R9080