What is CRI  - Color Rendering Index.

A color rendering index (CRI) is a quantitative measure of the ability of a light sources to reveal the true colors of various objects faithfully in comparison with an ideal or natural light source. CRI  (color rendering index) indicates how accurately a light source illuminates objects'original colors. OPTIMAL LIGHT  LED lights have CRI values of up to 90+

 

Color Rendering Index (CRI) is a way to measure a light source's distinctive attributes. It is an assessment of how the light source shows object colors "naturally" when compared to a familiar basis of reference, either incandescent light or daylight.

 

What is a good CRI.

The CRI  is measured as a number between 0 and 100. '0' all colors look same. at CRI 100 the 'true' colors of the object. Incandescent and halogen light sources have a CRI of 100.

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Light sources with a CRI of 80 to 90 are regarded as good and those with a CRI of 90+ are excellent.

The general rule is: The higher the CRI, the better the color rendering capacity.

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CRI is independent of color temperature. These are two different things. For example, a 5000K (daylight color temperature) fluorescent light source could have a CRI of 75, but another 5000K fluorescent light source can have a CRI of 90.

This chart is a good depiction of differing CRIs, with each image having the same warm color temperature (2700K):