LED lighting has taken hold and is replacing Incandescent or Halogen bulbs around the world. Whites appear strongly Orange or Yellowįor best Color Accuracy, select a Neutral White option if there is not a CRI or Color Accuracy rating for the flashlight.Blues are darker and can appear almost Black.If there is no CRI or Color Accuracy score, one way to gauge Color Accuracy is by using Color Temperature as a guide. However, it is worth looking for if you need it.
The Indie Cinema Academy has an excellent video on CRI and LED’s here.Ĭolor Accuracy is not touted in many of today’s LED flashlights, probably because of the full spectrum issue. This can give CRI scores that are very misleading. Most LED’s have a light curve with peaks and valleys, including gaps where these specific colors live. The problem with CRI is that it assumes a full spectrum light source. A CRI score of 0-100 depends on how accurate these 8 colors are reproduced. CRI uses a color palette of 8 specific colors evenly spread across the visible light spectrum. The Color Rendition Index (CRI) has been the longtime standard for measuring Color Accuracy. It refers to how faithfully colors are reflected from a subject. We discussed how Color Temperature describes the tint on the light source.
Evaluating skin tone or the color of a wire are some examples where a light with high Color Accuracy is important. Identifying true colors can be important in technical fields such as medical or engineering. This gave us the familiar glow which resembles the comforting torches and campfires of ancient times. As lighting has advanced through time, new lighting techniques brought forward that same or similar warm color scheme. Torches and campfires have a distinct amber or orange color range. Read our Complete History of Flashlights to learn more about how these great tools came to be. Neon, Halogens, and now LED’s all push the boundaries into the future. Electricity was discovered and the invention of the incandescent bulb revolutionized lighting. We used lamps fueled by animal and vegetable fats, then advanced to kerosene and crude oil. Humans have continually pushed for better and more efficient ways to illuminate the night. Then over 400,000 years ago, fire helped mankind push back the darkness and take control of the night in the form of torches and campfires. From the dawn of time the term ‘Light’ meant sunlight, moonlight and starlight.