… some people…?? I think that’s a given for everyone
They’re cheaper to buy and make for higher paper specs. Same thing with consumer cameras, more pixels don’t mean better picture quality, but the number is higher so it must be better. Consumer audio goes for the sheer Watts, sheer bass power. Casual consumer has been led to crave maximum performance in place of finesse.
Many people don’t realise their own needs, desires, often they’ve never had a chance to experience a nice /light/ or /stereo system/ or whatever, so they’re ready to accept the marketers’ criteria of what constitutes a good product.
That’s why we have choice. If I were to spec a lighting system to illuminate a lift shaft once a year for an inspection, I’d go for the cheaper low CRI stuff but when I do art installations, it’s 98 CRI plus.
You’re free to pick a low CRI light if it fulfills your needs better, but at the same time, our eye has not evolved around monochromatic or spiky white spectra and it does miss out on some information from the environment when it’s lit by those. You can be fine with that but I think it’s fair to assume that many people who choose to discuss torches in their free time might have more specific requirements and this would be the reason.
I am not color blind, according to the test that rayfish posted in post #46. I have lots of different flashlights, and I am ok with all of the various characteristics of the light that they emit. No complaints from me. I do enjoy reading posts from people with more knowledge and experience than me.
This again? 
I guess really it boils down to that old crux of “quality vs. quantity.”
I’m not a cri-baby but I very much appreciate higher CRI in lights these days - it makes such a difference. That difference can just be enjoyment or eye comfort but it can also be quite important for work such as what electricians, HVAC techs, and plumbers are often faced with (and to the same degree many other electronics and appliance technicians that may be working with many different colored components and/or with powered circuits). Automotive techs and those who work with metal fab also benefit a lot from higher/more natural color rendition. For those few who might enjoy night photography in nature, especially macro at night, there’s just no good reason to go back to low rendition and poor temperature choices.
Just sitting in the house or out walking around, it’s nice but to me it’s no big deal if I have to regress to something approaching cold-blue that flattens the world. If I hadn’t “grown up” with ugly LED output as they took over the world, it might bother me more since what we have today is generally so much better even in the middleground.
Anecdotal input: I had a good friend who was color blind. I never knew this until we started hiking one spring and I was teaching him a little about the plants and wildflowers. He was typical red/green and it was very interesting to learn about his view of the world. Eventually he got a craving to go backpacking and we did. Well, his experience with the typical cold white dimmer LEDs of the era, leaning to bluish sometimes, was unpleasant and almost dangerous in some areas. He actually could see better with the red aux light, but he could see and hike the best with good old halogen. I thought it was fascinating and it made me think more deeply about Light and our perceptions…which was part of what drove me toward forums and eventually got he hooked.
I never use the lights that I have that are higher than 5000K. I find it easier to identify almost any and everything with 4000k or less. LEDs with higher cri make it even better.
Osram has quad die projector LEDs that have 2 warm and 2 cool dies. The dies used to be individually powered, so you could just use a single die of the quad and end up with something that throws comparably to CSLNM1.TG. I’m not up to date with their offering, if the latest model of this series doesn’t do what I say then 1 generation older should.
There are significant BUTs though:
- the LEDs are poorly available in retail, you need to search for a source
- MCPCBs are not available either (though you may be able to find them factory-mounted on a heat spreader, I don’t know if these models are available like that)
- they are much more expensive
- just as with CSLNM1.TG, there is no high CRI option
- they may not be compatible with whatever optics you want to use
- focusing them in your optics is going to be harder because with just 1 die used you’re going to end up with something asymmetric
I believe the best high-CRI warm thrower is either dedomed SST-20 or Luxeon CZ.
I just did this test and it just told me i’m not colour blind………BAAHAHAHAHA! I know for sure i am colour blind but that test says I’m not 
OK. If you are color blind maybe you have no idea your monitor may be badly adjusted and that causes issues with the test? 
Just a crazy thought that came to mind.
FWIW, it indicates I am not red-green color blind and I have never thought I was.
Im not color blind, and I can clearly see Red, Orange, and Yellow on the High CRI image, and that area looks Brown on the Low CRI image, which shows no Orange and No Yellow:
Conclusion:
If you are not color blind but want to experience color blindess, use a Low CRI LED.
This is precisely the kind of misleading image that the OP mentioned.
Low CRI doesn’t look like that. It doesn’t reduce colour saturation.
It can deliver very good colour representations over certain parts of spectrum but very bad over others. And that “bad” representation doesn’t mean low saturation, more generally a tint shift. Oversaturation lowers CRI as well.
Gifted a IYP365 Nicha High CRI to a surgeon. When I talked to her about it she was real happy that she had it for an unexpected power outage. Had no opinion on the CRI. She pointed out that she has to work under poor lighting in a variety of rooms. Had never really considered CRI in a light. I wonder if lights in the O.R. are actually high CRI. Certainly many examination rooms are not.
I don’t know if I see it either. I do know that I really enjoy the SST 20 High CRI 4000k. I also like the XP L 4000k and it is hard for me to say which I like better even though the CRI difference is fairly large. Really do notice and appreciate the TIR for the beam profile on an EO2 II vs the reflector hot spot on the SP40. Both lights for same purpose roughly same tint but I am nearly certain that it is the beam profile rather than the CRI that makes me prefer the EO2. Would like to have a TIR for the SP40 and then maybe I would be more certain.
Purpose of course is even more important. The IF22a is rather low CRI, way too cool for my taste, obviously has a very defined hot spot. Certainly nothing I would like for an EDC light. Perfect for its purpose though! Would be interesting if there were something with the nice focused beam with a warmer tint and Hi CRI. Does such a light exist? How much throw would it sacrifice?
You wouldn’t sacrifice much throw because it mostly depends on the emitter/optics combination, high CRI means slightly lower brightness/intensity but it should make up for it because warmer light is better at punching through air.
Left- 5000K 90cri, right- unknown about 6 - 6500K low cri
A low-CRI light shows less detail in a coloured scene, because colours are separated less.
It is not actually like turning down colour-saturation, more like changing saturation levels for parts of the spectrum. In a worst case, a red looks the same as brown as yellow, for example.
To compensate this, one could ramp up the lumens to the high edge of eye sensitivity, which soon becomes eye-straining.
This happens especially with a light that has a high and narrow spike on the blue part of the spectrum.
With a high-CRI light, less lumens are needed to separate colours.
The energy is spread more evenly on the spectrum with lesser spikes and fewer missing zones.
Not 30% lower brightness and it doesn’t translate directly to heat (nowhere near).
Low CRI means some colors are low/bad.
Remember, the older you are, the yellower the lenses of your eyes become. So any general statement you make should specify your age and condition.
Until you have cataract surgery, that is.
My only high CRI lights are LH351D. OK but not my favorite. Temp., tint and beam profile are much more important to me. Granted only a limited comparison. I have a D4 with XPG2 that I love. I have a Haikelite SC26 with XHP 35 HD and diffuser film that is beautiful.
That’s a gross generalisation. Perception changes with surrounding environment. Plus I’ve been in the situation where I was seeing a completely different colour depending if the room light was turned on/off.
I do not disagree. 
Perhaps you could post a picture?
Lets have Lunch
Have whichever color Pizza you prefer:
.
.
its all the same Pizza to me…
the Redder one just tastes better 
Red foods taste better than Green foods… 