I suspect “world looking like pee” has much more too do with color temperature and the position of the tint near the BBL than it does CRI.
I should revise my earlier statement, which said “I don’t.”
The last light I bought was a BLF Q8, which isn’t high CRI. It’s still pretty nice though. I’ve had a 3D-printed lantern diffuser on it for the past few months, which warms the tint and reduces the CRI even more, but it looks more like an actual candle that way. It gets used quite a bit in candle mode.
So I guess I do buy lights without high-CRI emitters.
But when I want the best tint, I use my triple 219B lights. Particularly one with a Moonlight Special driver, since it doesn’t have the typical FET tint shift.
Or if I want really vivid color, I still haven’t found anything better than my BST-wide. It makes colors more vivid than even a 100CRI light source. It really brings out shades which aren’t normally visible.
would you be OK with High CRI if it had good tint and good beam pattern, in a color temperature you consider “white” and was not too hot?
they are definitely separate factors, but why settle for less than the best of all the features?
different environments will change how our brain white balances, what looks orange during the day, can look white at night
and what looks white during the day can look blueish at night
there is no single color temperature for all ambient light settings
I only buy lights with Low CRI if I plan to modify them. I dont like using lights with negative R9, so NW is not good enough, and CW is usually Low CRI, so I dont like that. I use my lights mostly in the dark times of day. I can understand if I was working on a car, in the sun, then a bright CW light might be needed.
you can have brightest, or highest CRI
I will trade bright, for good color, because I care about the spectrum balance I use, indoors, close range, with red things
green foliage is not a good test of CRI, in fact CW is better for Green Foliage alone, but not for bark and dirt colors
even how green a tint is, will change based on the white balance of the users brain at the time
Look at the difference in R9 with Low CRI vs High CRI
here is a skillhunt h03 NW, it has good tint, and low CRI
compare the R9 of the Lumintop Tool w N219b, it has good tint and High CRI
Well sure.
If you presented me two different identical lights that had identical lumens, beam patterns, color temperature, and nice below-BBL tint and the only difference between the two was one was high-CRI and the other was not… then of course I would take the high-CRI option.
The problem is that almost never actually happens. High CRI usually comes at the cost of lumens, color temperature, intensity, and/or greenish tint.
I agree that more CRI (red lumens) means less Bright (green lumens), for equal runtime, or the high CRI can be as bright as the Low CRI, but trades for less runtime, to get High CRI at same brightness
and agree High CRI is often warmer CCT (4000k) than Cool White (6000k)
how many lumens do you need and what color temperature do you like?
in my experience, green tint is much more common with Cree than Nichia, and green tint is much more common on cooler lights than warmer ones. I would go so far as to say green tint is more common with Low CRI
intensity sounds like lumens, so thats already covered above, or Im unclear on the difference
HDS makes the same light w N219b 4000k High CRI, max output 200 lumens for 1 hour, or XP-G2 6000k low CRI 250 lumens for 1 hour, with green tint. Same body, same reflector, same battery, same size, same weight, identical except for 50 low cri lumens.
I would take the N219b, but, most people will say they want the one with the most throw, so they will buy the green tinted low cri, since they dont understand those details. And they certainly have no idea that the R9 values are vastly different.
Once they get the memo that High CRI makes for hotter Sex, they might begin to appreciate the waste of 50 green tinted low cri lumens.
another example
I have an Olight S Mini Low CRI, Cool White, green tint, and an
S1 Mini High CRI, Cool White green tint.
I use the High CRI more, almost never use turbo on either light, most of my use is indoors, close range, lower levels. CRI is the deal Maker for my usage scenario.
If you use the light in the bedroom, CRI rules
If youre just strobing cars to direct traffic, then Low CRI is much more aggravating, brighter, and may or may not elicit compliance sooner
marketing spin
High CRI is Sexier than Low CRI!
lol
Wow, apparently you misunderstood my reply! I was totally agreeing with you, why I wrote “Ya, there ain’t many”
You asked: “just how many other high-CRI lights are there?”
So I listed the few I know of… you had already mentioned the Lumintop, so I didn’t list it.
But now I see it wasn’t an actual question :person_facepalming:
.
I’m sorry you thought I was disputing your statement by listing some lights, it wasn’t meant that way at all.
Naw, it just underscored what I said. Getting high-CRI lights off the rack is difficult at best.
I wasn’t sure if you were agreeing with me or pointing out 2 counterexamples.
But even with a bunch of Zebras or Jaxes, that still leaves out a whoooooooooooole lot of other mfrs.
Would be nice if they added HCRI to their collections. Made some headway with NW and even (amazingly) WW, so…
I feel like the slider on this page is interesting and fairly approximate vs. my experience:
https://www.yujiintl.com/high-cri-led-lightin
Maybe subtle at first, but I’ll take the more vivid colors please. 
I thought I was pretty sensitive to green tint, but I’ve never felt that issue with my nichias and I have them in 5 or 6 lights. Don’t have any of the Cree hcri though.
And yeah, there are some good options out there, but most of them are wonky in one way or another, hence the frustration.
the fact that most flashlight makers and most flashlight buyers dont care about CRI, is real
however, that does not make low CRI better, just marketed better
this thread shows how effectively Low CRI has spun their marketing, some people have been led to believe High CRI has more green tint than low CRI, the opposite is true, so masterful dysinformation campaign by the Low CRI vendors
there is more profit in Low CRI than High CRI
so marketing points out that Low CRI is brighter, and the buyers follow their lead, and buy into the brighter is better idea
courses for horses, if you need brighter, and cant get it with High CRI, then go for brighter
but if you can have bright enough with High CRI, why settle for Low CRI?
If that slider shows accurately the difference between high CRI and low CRI, then I’m definitely in the “I don’t care (much)” camp. It would certainly be at the bottom of the list of things I do care, if I cared at all.
thanks for that link, heres a pic
if you just need a pencil, any CRI will do,
but if you want to really enjoy colors like purple, orange, and red, CRI will help them not to look faded, muddy, and brown
There are no high intensity LEDs that also have high CRI.
If you want both extreme throw and high CRI you need a short arc lamp or possibly HID.
Those come with their own downsides.
I have to say I agree with you. I’ll give up a few lumens for a 5000k tint. And granted the couple lights I put 219c 90 cry 5000k look nice in. But id rather have better output at 4500-6000k. Then high cri. Usually when I use my flashlight I’m doing something and don’t have the time to appreciate the better colors I just need to see something. I find more of a difference looking at something with a cw then a nw emitter. Then let’s say a 70cri nw and a 90 cri nw emitter. Nw is easier to make things out
thanks
can you give examples of usage applications that favor high intensity, and applications that favor high CRI?
could that be greater distances outdoors vs shorter distances indoors?
is throw better for identifying large targets like Deer, and High CRI better for seeing how cooked the meat is on the BBQ, illuminating the food on the table, and relaxing around the campfire after the hunt?
Besides what you mentioned above. I imagibe high intebsity leds are good for stage lighting and other events. Where you need to light up a specific thing and not everything around it Or maybe not. Flashlights make up a very small fraction of a percent or few of led sales. So these high intensity leds arnt made just for us. There are some kind of uses for them
I don’t know if 80cri counts as high cri. But xpl hi comes in 80+cri. I havnt looked at Crees datadheets in awhile to see if they make them in 90 cri. But mtn electronics has a couple of them in 80cri
To me I think 80 cri leds are a good compromise if someone wants better cri without sacrificing output as much as long as you can get the color tempature want. Richard only has them in 2700 and 3000k. And u4 bin. Don’t know if their are others maybe someone can pull their binning chart/order code chart and see for xplhi or other xhp35 hi
I recently lent a friend of mine a 4000K 90+ CRI light to go mountain biking at night. He has only used cool white low CRI lights in the past.
He came back saying that he found he didn’t have to strain his eyes as he did with his other lights, and was able to bike just as fast as before with less light. He said he was able to identify the features, rocks, roots, etc much more clearly with the high cri light and it felt more useful than the brighter cool white low CRI leds he’s used in the past.
As a tint and high cri fan, I am also a foodie. Some are content with bulk cheap icecream. I personally prefer to eat less and have some quality Italian gelato. To each their own.
If LED manufacturers were to release ultra low CRI leds with even more output, where would people draw the line for the lumen race?
I was wondering the same
here are two identical lights except for the LED
one has 600 lumen max and 70 CRI, the other 450 lumen max and 90 CRI
(25% less lumens and 29% higher CRI)
Its an uphill battle to convince buyers that giving up 25% or the lumens to gain 29% in spectrum is a good thing. Marketing is going to have to spin it, and make High CRI have perceived value, example, for tracking blood when hunting, working in an ambulance, cooking steak and salmon, illuminating other colorful and delicious foods… or sex, High CRI inreases libido… think that would sell?
pretty fair to say one is not as bright, but I agree with your mountain biking friend,
“I can see better even though its dimmer.”
- I insist on neutral white.
- I strongly prefer 5000K, but have been known to experiment with other colour temperatures.
- I prefer high CRI and insist on it for EDC lights with general purpose beam profiles.
- For lights where throw is a priority, I’ll sacrifice CRI for extra lumens.
My Nitecore MT06MD - 2×AAA, 5000K, 90+ CRI Nichia 219B - is by far my most used light. It’s the first light I think of when I’m in the house or working on electronics.
My next most used light is a custom Convoy X3 with 5000K XP-L HD and BLF A6 electronics. I’ve been using that one whenever I’m outside in the dark for the last two years now. Built for me by James at 3Tronics, top quality work.
I use an Astrolux S41S with 4× 5000K 90+ CRI Nichia 219B as a desk lamp. The floody beam profile works nicely for that.
If I’m awake, I have a BLF-348 with me. Again, 5000K 90+ CRI Nichia 219B.
from elzetta;
” In tactical applications, where one may search for and identify persons based on the color of their vehicles or apparel, faithful color perception is essential. Imagine searching for a suspect known to be wearing a red shirt and last seen near a light blue house. With a cool-tint flashlight the red shirt will appear black and every white residence in the neighborhood will seem to match the described blue house. With a neutral-tint beam, however, colors are accurately observed and proper identification may be achieved quickly. All Elzetta Alpha Models and Bravo and Charlie Models equipped with High Output AVS Heads produce neutral-tint beams.
Further benefits of neutral-tint beams manifest when smoke, haze, or fog is present. In such conditions, cool-tint beams tend to “splash back” with greater harshness than neutral or warm beams. While such harshness is generally more of a perceived phenomenon than a quantifiable one, most people find cool-tint beams to produce more glare in adverse conditions than neutral-tint light.
The pursuit of high lumen ratings has led manufacturers to use cool-tint LED’s in the vast majority of tactical flashlights today. Unfortunately, like so many other features which are driven by Marketing Departments rather than thoughtful user-based engineering, these bluish beams sacrifice real-world performance. When faithful color rendition is important, as it is in tactical applications, look for a flashlight with a neutral-tint beam. After all, there is nothing “cool” about being blue. ”
The only use I can think of where high CRI would be a high priority are fine photography (most normal photography doesn’t even need it), art exhibits (lighting on the artwork), and maybe some jobs where you have to be able to discern between several similar colors, like telephone cables and automobile wiring.