I've tried 4-foot T-12 GE Chroma 50's (CRI = 92) and 4-foot T-8
Paralite Maxum 5000s (CRI = 91). They both produce a much better light than either CFLs or even good triphosphor linear tubes. The GEs seem to bring out deep reds slightly better, and have a slightly lower color temperature overall than the Maxum 5000s. Other than that, however, I find they both produce a very nice light which is quite close to daylight. Eventually I'll convert all the lighting where I live to full-spectrum. I like the great color rendering as well as the color temp. Incandescent may be full-spectrum in a manner of speaking, but the color temp is too low. One thing I've noticed is that all fluorescents, even full-spectrum, are somewhat deficient in the deep red part of the spectrum. Perhaps using full-spectrum fluorescents combined with enough incandescent to fill that part of the spectrum might duplicate sunlight almost exactly although I have no intentions of trying that. Regardless of make, I recommend running all full-spectrum fluorescents on an electronic ballast.
I've heard
Solux halogen lamps, which are color corrected for 3500K, 4100K, or 4700K (and have CRIs of 98 to 99), are indeed more "full-spectrum" than any full-spectrum fluorescents. In fact, when the 4700K version is overvolted by about 20% it comes extremely close to duplicating sunlight. However, heat, lifetime, and power consumption are three reasons why I would never consider using them except for small task lighting applications. For me full-spectrum fluorescents strike a good balance between power consumption, lamp life (the Maxum 5000s are rated for
34,000 hours!), and light quality. Perhaps in a few years we'll have LEDs that are as good as Solux lamps in duplicating sunlight but consume less power per lumen than even today's best full-spectrum fluorescents.
As an aside, I think all interior light should strive to duplicate sunlight as faithfully as possible. I've strongly voiced my disagreement in the past over the use by lighting designers of "warm" lighting to create moods. I feel creating moods is best done by selecting appropriate decor rather than choosing a type of light to which the human visual system is poorly adapted. Interestingly, I've never seen lighting designers go in the other direction to create mood. Assuming the ideal is around 5500K, then incandescent is about 2700K too warm but I've never seen lighting which is 2700K too cool (this would be around 8200K) used by lighting designers to create moods. I find it curious why strongly yellow-tinted light isn't considered objectionable while strongly blue-tinted light is (I find them both to be equally annoying, especially if visual clarity is a prime concern).
Full spectrum lights
Linear Mode
