Color Temperature and Help Choosing 3000K vs 4000K...

[staticx57]

I think this is a good refresher for everyone:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...CRI-vs-alternatives-with-measurement-examples

 

[bykfixer]

I understand what you are saying, but "skin tone" is not a reference color.

That's the beauty of it Archi. Be it a beautiful tan gal on a beach, an eskimo whose skin hasn't seen the sun in years, or the person next to you in a restaraunt.... flesh 'color' doesn't matter.

Does that tan gal look like she has Cheetos powder swabbed in a paste all over her skin? Does the Alaskan fellow look pink or pale blue? See what I mean?

No chart or graph can duplicate that. Light bounces off an object, computer programmed with the latest, smartest algorithms and a modern color screen or printer shows results and the numbers are generated via a manmade instrument. The same "man" (as in a species of mammal) that tries real hard to put brocolli in a pill but has yet to achieve the desired 100% duplication.

But armed with information and knowing ones preferences those charts and graphs can be used as a starting point that leads one to try a particular tint flavor. Yet to blindly think because the chart says you'll like it then liking it because said sterile chart says you should? That's selling yourself short in my estimation.

 

[archimedes]

I think we are talking past each other, but no matter.

Very briefly, to clarify, my original point was solely aimed at quickly and easily trying to distinguish between two (theoretical) emitters otherwise identical except for CRI.

I would personally find that easier to do by shining them both on an object of a saturated red color with which I was familiar, rather than on some random skin tone.

And to address your latter point ... there are plenty of emitters which technically rate highly on color rendering, yet which I do not find to produce output which is subjectively pleasing.

 

[bykfixer]

Think about folks gathered around a campfire.
Everybody has an orange glow regardless of skin "color" so the skin "tone" has an orange look.

I was just watching something on tv where folks of various skin colors were sitting by a campfire. The native American, the middle eastern and the white guy all had an orange glow to their skin tone.

 

[TimeOnTarget]

I like 4000-5000K for EDC, but the ~3000K warm tint lights are perfect for power outages; it's nearly demoralizing once you're without services to then have to sit with your family in what appears to be garage workshop lighting - the cozy warm tints are relaxing and welcoming like light from the fireplace. Highly recommended if you haven't tried it (I would say "the tint, not the power outage," but you're here, so we know you're partially hoping for the next one..)

I can see how the 3k light would be great for the setting the mood during a power outage, but what configuration would be the best?

You would want it to radiate broadly. Maybe a mule?

 

[StarHalo]

I can see how the 3k light would be great for the setting the mood during a power outage, but what configuration would be the best?

You would want it to radiate broadly. Maybe a mule?

Ceiling bounce; this is much preferable to a lantern or mule which glares directly into your eyes, and allows you to use anything that has a warm emitter regardless of reflector config, which means you have more options for the battery config. In a family dinner table situation, you just tailstand/cupstand your warm light at ~100 lumens on something tall so the emitter is above eye level - now there's no source of light visible at all, just smooth and even warm light from the whole ceiling, super cozy.

 

[TimeOnTarget]

Ceiling bounce; this is much preferable to a lantern or mule which glares directly into your eyes, and allows you to use anything that has a warm emitter regardless of reflector config, which means you have more options for the battery config. In a family dinner table situation, you just tailstand/cupstand your warm light at ~100 lumens on something tall so the emitter is above eye level - now there's no source of light visible at all, just smooth and even warm light from the whole ceiling, super cozy.

Yes, that makes sense.

Thanks!

 

[StarHalo]

Yes, that makes sense.

Thanks!

You should join us for our yearly power outage practice; you learn quickly what works and what doesn't when you don't have the option to just turn on the lights..