Tint mixing, improving de-domed emitters. (Are XM-L2s and XP-G2s good options to MT-G2 in some ways?)

Lets compare the two SRK with mixed emitters vs a few other NW emitters.

-On the top, representing the green-ish tint. De-domed XM-L2. Supposedly U2 1A. But I got this from KD. Im guessing it was T6 1C, if not a B.

-XM-L2 3B from FT

-XM-L2 4C from FT

-XM-L2 3A from intl-outdoor

-Info on the lights with mixed emitters in OP.

Looking away from that my 3A and 3B looks extremely similar to each other. I think its quite obvious that the emitter mixing worked its charm! Even when being 30cm from a white wall, there is not much signs of the various colors in the lights with mixed emitters. The XM-L light used to have a fairly green-ish hue. A bit like the de-domed XM-L2. Look at in now! :)

Too much greenish/yellowish tint. No problem neutralize the hue by adding an emitter with more red tones. :)

So, what do you guys and gals think? I know, photos are not the best way of comparing various tints, but I think this shows the differences in the various colors fairly good.

Very nice comparative beam shot photo. Was all that taken in one shot?

The tint improvement is impressive and consistant with my mixes as far as how the whole beam's tint is changed. When I aim a SRK type light at a wall, I get 3 faint clovers on the outside of the beam. Those are generally to tint of the nearest emitter. I don't see those in your photo. It may be the way the lights are oriented. I think I see some thing that may be clovers on both sides of the 3A beam. Since the light are aimed away, the other clovers would be way to dispersed and faint to see in the photo. Is that what is happening here?

Thanks!

Yes, all lights on at the same time and taken in one shot. All pointed at a proper white cinema screen.

The angle and and especially the slight overlapping with the other beams is minimizing the "clover" effect on the SRK/M6. Outer edge of the spill does not look that round and nice when pointed straight on a wall.

btw, the tint of a specific emitter is seen on the opposite of where it is placed in the reflector. In real life use im not able to spot it..

You're right. I misspoke. The lowest point for light to spill out is either the short walls in the center of the reflector or the distant walls on the far side of the reflector (No sure which one ends up actually cutting off the outside of the clover spill). So clover spill is on the opposite side of the emitter placement.

Interesting, and nice work for the picture! I can see the difference in color around the edge of the mixed emitters, but if you are outside/moving and not shining on a white wall I dont think you’d be able to tell much. Is the greenish dedomed XML2 that green in real life? I have a mixed multi-emitter with dedomed T6 and its more “neutral” definitely not green…do dedomed XML2s come out “green” typically? I’d heard dedomed color isnt really different depending on which color emitter you start with to dedome (CW, NW, WW), but this seems to say otherwise unless XML2s go “green” or the color is “off” in the picture…

I’ve actually found I like to vary color tones now, I get tired of CW and its too reflective bright in some circumstances, but after using a NW on the yellowish side I really liked that tint, and then started using a warm white and really loved using that for a while, ran out of power in my warm white and found I like CW again more…its interesting, I seem to get “bored” of one color tint, but I’m really liking warm white’s reduction in night vision recovery time.

I’ve been experimenting with this on my bike, of all things, with two S5 Convoys. One has a 1B and the other has a 5C1 emitter. As I change relative settings I can mix the colors together in different intensities. Kinda cool, or warm, or anywhere in between.

De-domed CW emitters that leans towards the green/yellow side of CW emitters, like 1B and 1C will get much more of a green/yellow tint after de-doming than the ones with more red tint. I have not noticed any difference between XM-L and XM-L2. It depends on the tint you start with.

Yes, the outcome after de-doming will depend on what you start with. Normally you can subtract about 1300-2200 Kelvin, and add more green/yellow, atleast when de-doming CW/NW. If you are de-doming WW you will end up with very WW. So yes, there is a large difference between all the various emitters. Generally, you would like to add red tones, like I have done with my two lights in this thread. That fixes the tint and makes it more white.

In real life, the eyes adapts to colors, to some extent. So if you walk around in the nature with a de-domed CW XM-L, it will not look that bad, because it renders trees and everything fairly green. And green nature doesn't look that bad. :p

If you're eyes are adapted to nice NW light with a dose of red in it, then the de-domed CW XM-L (especially 1C and 1D) will easily look as green as above. Then it looks like :Sp

I have seen worse green than the above too. When looking at the picture, most colors are more visible. But it nicely portrays the green-ish tint compared to the others, which have more white light.

I prefer to start with 1A or 1D before de-doming. But even then, its far from great.. Which is why i "fixed" the tint by adding a more red emitter.

Im a bit like you when it comes to tint. I need change... Which is why I have a lot to choose from...


BTW, the two lights in this thread are in a large beamshot comparison with other lights here.

I kinda started like that. Most times I bring two lights with me for comparison, sometimes 3 or 4. I often try a bit of mixing. If I only bring two lights, and use a bit both of them a bit, I usually prefer the combination of them.. :p

btw.

0-1-2 =CW

3-4-5= NW

6-7-8= WW

5B1=NW

The dedomed T6s I have went yellowish, maybe a bit of brown. Have you dedomed a warm white, like say T4-7C and if so what did you get?

And no green in nature is not bad, but when you are hiking in the green forest at night, adding green to the green is probably going to be an overabundance of green…which is why I didnt really like the idea previously. Its probably kind of neat to have in a city like setting.

5C1 sure looks warm to me.

[quote=B42]

Have you dedomed a warm white, like say T4-7C and if so what did you get? [/quote]

Yes I have dedomed XM-L T4 7C. Result was warmer than XM-L2 8B4. It would probably be a "9" tint.. :p Certainly no green or yellow tint in that range. It was just very warm. :p

If you walk around with an 7 or "8 tinted" light for some time, then turn on a "5 tinted" light. It will easily look more like white NW without any hint of warmth at all. If you put on a "3" tint it can even look look like CW. Eyes adapt... If you are used to various CW tints, then a "5" will look warm in comparison. But it will not look warm compared to a proper warm, and it its not warm by definition. When I say definition, im thinking about Cree datasheets.

I have put some lines in.

Right, but you were talking about adding some red, maybe dedoming 8D4 would do better?

No, it shows the differences fairly well :stuck_out_tongue: Actually, I’m wrong! It shows the differences…
EXTREMELY
ELOQUENTLY
BRILL… no, no puns here.

It makes my eyeballs chuckle like a ferret with a grocery bag.

I for one would LOVE to have been able to look at, say, take your idea to the proverbial nth degree and put one of approximately each Chromaticity Bin at exactly X cm from a “Reference White” wall & shoot it with ABC camera settings, then put it out as a grid. How easy would it be to “point and shoot” instead of having to imagine the coordinates of some Cx / Cy grid? “Do I want a 3C or a 3B and how exactly am I supposed to know?” More importantly “Can I stand the weird color rings of this or that bin?” Cree should really hire you to do this…

Sorry. I’m smitten. I need more alcohol… :beer:

huh? Not sure if im following you now..

Its probably because I wasn't clear when saying adding red. My fault.. Im talking about adding more pink/rosy/red tint.. Not warm emitters.

See this picture.

Left side= cool

Middle= neutral

right side= warm

Now, lets stay in the middle, inside the NW range. A 3S will be yellow, probably even greenish. Its in the NW range, above the black line.

A 4R will be more rosy in the tint (its got more red in it). Its still in the NW range, but below the black line. Where more of the pink/rosy tones are. (I have a tendency to just say red)

Mix a 3S and a 4R and you end up with with pretty nice and white NW light..


In terms of temperature. Mix a CW and a WW and you get NW.

In terms of color. Mix an emitter with yellow or greenish tint with an emitter emitter with more rosy tint (I normally say red,sorry) and you get more white light. That black line in the middle represent the whitest light you get in the CW, NW, and WW range.

Makes sense?


If you don't think the colors of the picture above matches the real life that well, well, don't take it too seriously.

This picture shows things in a different and more colorful way.

See that little black line in the middle "black body locus". It stretches from blue to orange. CW-WW. Like the black line I put in the picture above. If you have too much green/yellow, which is on top of the black line. Add some pink/red which is on the bottom. Then you "neutralize".

Its quite simple. If you have to much of a color. Add the opposite.

Oh I was just thinking that possibly the 8D4 dedomed would get you more into the orangy red, but maybe 4R is better for “red”. I am not familiar with how they actually look.

Ill try to make a more visual example. Rough example of the theory. Which also works quite good in real life.

BLUE: Represents a typical CW emitter.

Then, it got dedomed, became warmer (not warm, just NW looking in terms of temperature). But it also got a more yellowgreen looking tint.. Say, somewhere in the greenish circle.

You want to get rid of that tint, but maybe stick to roughly the same temperature range (Kelvin). You take a more rosy looking emitter and combine it with a more greenyellow looking emitter.

BOOM. Combined they end up in the white circle. Fairly white NW light appears.. Green/yellow-ish tint gone..

:party:

It all becomes clear then.. :beer:

If not, drink more. Maybe Ive been drinking too much when trying to explain this too. But drink some more and lovely colors appear. :beer:

Thanks for the graph and explanation,

I have been struggling to understand ANSI, but now “I have seen the light” <<< forgive him, his fingers are not always connected to his brain >>> :Sp

When the treasurer eases the financial restrictions I have a Kung that is getting an upgrade to XM-L2 U2’s, I am thinking 2*U2 1c, 1*U2 1a, to provide the power and a 1*T6 4c to provide some warmth, no dedoming as I want flood.

Cheers David

David, its nice to hear you have seen the light. :bigsmile:

Ill set up a few examples, just to shine some light on the the case.. :p

1

XM-L2 U2 1C - 65 CRI - Above the black line (normally hint of yellow)

XM-L2 U2 1C - 65 CRI - Above the black line (normally hint of yellow)

XM-L2 T6 4C - 75 CRI -Above the black line (normally hint of yellow)

Theoretical tint = 2C tint with 68,3 CRI. (CRI is not calculated like that as far as I know, but lets keep it dumb and simple)

2

You could also just use 3x XM-L2 U2 2C if its available. Then you get XM-L2 one emitter with slightly higher bin, but lower CRI.

3

XM-L2 U1 1A - 65 CRI - Below the black line (normally hint of rosy, if not purple in the CW range, certainly no green or yellow)

XM-L2 U1 1A - 65 CRI - Below the black line (normally hint of rosy, if not purple in the CW range, certainly no green or yellow)

XM-L2 T6 4C - 75 CRI - Above the black line (normally hint of yellow)

Outcome of the emitters, marginally cooler than option "2" (due to 1A vs 1C), probably more white looking light (due to mixing tints with slightly opposite tints) If playing with emitter mixing, I would probably try something more like that.


The stuff above are just simple theory. In order to get what you want, you need to know what you want to go and exactly what you have. Some prefer to stay below the black line, some above. I think most are very happy as long as they stay on the middle, with no distinct colors. As white light as possible. I believe its beneficial to mix tints that are below and over the line in order to get there, assuming white light is the goal.

There is said to be CRI benefits from mixing various colors. Not sure if its actually any visual difference. Personally don't see the point in mixing a CW XM-L with a "C" tint and a WW XM-L with a "C" tint. Then you could have just bought a typical NW "C" tint from the start and got 100% even light when looking at hotspot/spill edge, normally with just as good CRI and output if not better.

But if you started with CW emitters, and wanted NW in a multi emitter light using lots of emitters, well, buying a few WW emitters is cheaper than buying a bunch of NW emitters and replacing all.

Basically, there have to be a purpose for emitter mixing, otherwise, just stick to several of the same type, assuming you really like that type.


I have a 3rd SRK, it uses 3X 5B1. I think the tint is nice, but its slightly on the yellow side if things and I would probably not mind if overall tint was more white in that particular light. Swapping one 5B1 with a 3A might get me there... Just an example.

I think multi emitter lights offer great opportunities in mixing tints, and shaping the beam. No need to have a bunch of similar tinted lights when you can play around with nuances.

Use the high resolution ansiwhite chart to see all tints easily.

I know what you are talking about, I’m just talking about the specifics of the particular tints and how they look, wondering which actually visually is more red (I have seen neither of those tints in person). Yes, you’d use 2 different LEDs to balance the 8D4 if you were trying to match tints to get to “neutral”. Somehow my very warm T5 7C seems to “reset” my appreciation to the CW emitters later on. I’m wondering what warmer/redder would look like.