yes in some relative comparisons the SW45 is Very pink, but that all depends on what it is being compared to, and the white balance of the photo
some examples of the N219b 4500k looking “white”, at low levels, and in full darkness
the next 2 photos look like what I saw with my dark adapted eyes
Note that photos with single beams will tend to white balance to that beam, our brain does the same thing, so in the following photos, we see no Pink, just “natural white”, as you said.
here is that same sw45 shining on a ceiling next to a 3000k Incandescent, as you can see, it does not look pink at all… the white balance is essentially set to the 3000k incandescent. My brain does that too. So the 4500k looks relatively cool, by comparison.
the above photo actually looks very close to what I see with my eyes. I have been sitting under that 3000k light for more than an hour, my eyes now see it as white light… even though during the day it looks rather “orange”, at Daylight white balance of 5500k.
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in some cases, the sw45 photographs as violet, but that is not how my eyes see it
left to right, N219b 4000k 9050, 4000k XP-L, N219b 4500k 9080
“white” is relative to White Balance, iow, the Color temperature that our brain, or camera, is set to.
White Balance will drastically change the apparent color and tint of an LED. That is why I always include more than one beam in my photos, so people can make a Relative Comparison of tints.
in the case of the SW45, I agree it definitely looks “white” when compared to warmer CCTs, it can even look relatively Blue
otoh, during the day, when my brain is adapted to Sunlight, the SW45 definitely has more Pink Tint than Sunlight…
in fact, the SW45 is one of the most “Pink” LEDs I have (furthest below the BBL), it simply has some of the highest R9 of any LED I own… I absolutely LOVE its versatility as an EDC… Not too warm during the day, and no hint of Yellow (which I love to hate). I find the SW40 9050 “too” yellow, during the day, but the SW45 9080 does not have that “problem”…
one more example of Relative Tint and Color:
what the camera sees is not necessarily what my eyes see, it depends on what ambient light my brain is adapted to, and that is certainly not necessarily the same as what the camera sees… The auto white balance tends to bias itself to the coolest and or brightest light in a photo. In the photo above, the auto white balance is setting itself to the light on the right, a 6000k XP-L…. Tint is relative to the white balance of the brain of the beholder.
