Debunking that Low CRI is brighter than High CRI... not necessarily

[jon_slider]

ToyKeeper just pointed out that the hotspot of a single LED is five times brighter on target than a triple LED.

@ToyKeeper

Efficiency, as measured in candelas per Watt, is usually higher with just one LED.
…
Take the FW3A vs FW1A as an example. The single-emitter version is … illuminating its target about 5X as bright.

the reason for this is that the single LED is producing a more focused hotspot. Whereas a triple spreads the lumens out over a wider area.

@ToyKeeper

Basically, do you want an extreme flooder at ~2 cd/lm or a balanced beam at ~10 cd/lm?

this is about how much more brightly the target is illuminated by a small tight beam from a single LED, and how much wider, but dimmer the illuminated area is when using a triple.

The single LED is brighter on target because the light is focused into a smaller area. The triple makes more total lumens, but spreads them out over a larger area, so the brightness on target is lower.