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.