What is CRI?
CRI stands for Color Rendering Index. It is a number (0-100) that tells you how accurately a light source shows the true colors of objects compared to natural sunlight.
Let's break it down
- Color Rendering: How well a light lets you see the real colors of things.
- Index: A score or rating.
- 0-100 scale: 0 means colors look very wrong, 100 means they look just like they would under daylight.
- Natural sunlight: The reference point because it shows colors most naturally.
Why does it matter?
If the light you use has a low CRI, colors can look washed out or misleading, which can affect tasks like picking clothes, cooking food, doing art, or diagnosing medical conditions. A high CRI helps you see true colors, making everyday activities more comfortable and accurate.
Where is it used?
- Home lighting: living rooms, kitchens, and bedrooms where you want colors to look natural.
- Retail stores: clothing and cosmetics shops use high-CRI lights so products appear true to color.
- Photography and video studios: accurate color rendering is essential for consistent images.
- Healthcare: operating rooms and diagnostic labs need high CRI lighting to see subtle color differences in tissues.
Good things about it
- Provides a simple, single number to compare different light sources.
- Helps consumers choose lighting that makes spaces feel more natural.
- Improves visual comfort and reduces eye strain.
- Enhances color-critical tasks in professional settings.
- Encourages manufacturers to develop better, more accurate lighting technologies.
Not-so-good things
- CRI does not account for how bright or dim a light is; a high CRI lamp can still be too dim for a task.
- It focuses only on the visible spectrum and ignores other factors like flicker or glare.
- Some modern LEDs may score high on CRI but still render certain colors poorly; newer metrics (e.g., TM-30) can be more reliable.
- The test method is based on a limited set of color samples, so it may not reflect all real-world colors.