CRI figures seem too high

[videoman]

Many import LED panel lights for film and broadcast industry claim 90+ CRI figured in their daylight color range of 5000K to 6200K units.
Are there any leds out there that go that high in CRI specs ? The panels in question are the low cost imports using 512 or 1024 tiny leds in them.
I have a hard time finding them led emitters anywhere on the planet that have that high of a CRI in daylight color. Or that the overrated CRI figures are just added in there to sell the product?

 

[DIWdiver]

You can't trust any of the specs in a super cheap imported product. How many 1800 lm XM-L flashlights are there on eBay? And they burn for 4 hours on a single 4000 mA-H 18650!

But panels for the film and broadcast industry should be in a different class. Trusted manufacturers should give pretty good numbers for CRI and color temp, as these depend primarily on the LED and not the application of it. If these are cheap, no-name imports, I wouldn't trust anything about them. And I certainly wouldn't trust them if my job depended on their performance.

 

[videoman]

I get the feeling that most of those tiny leds used in small or large panel import designs use the exact same cool blue leds from the same source. At least they seem exactly alike when closely inspected. What brand or where they are made is a mystery as it is easy to slap a brand name on them and claim high CRI figures. The trusted manufacturers do seem to specify high CRI numbers but only of the warmer Kelvins, fair enough, but where do the 90+ CRI leds in the daylight 5000+K's come from and more importantly, who/what brand makes them. Perhaps my question should have been: do 90+ CRI emitters exist in the cool daylight range of 5000+K ?

 

[AnAppleSnail]

Nichia sells their 92+ CRI power LED we like so much. I get really nice-looking color by mixing two or more CCTs. I do not know what the CRI of this mixed-source light is. And yes, they can lie. Lying sells at a much higher profit margin than performance does.

Edit: I am wrong!

 

[WeLight]

Check the latest Cree CXA COB data, most have 5000k at min 90 typ 95 CRI in the HD range

 

[LEDealer]

Nichia sells their 92+ CRI power LED we like so much. I get really nice-looking color by mixing two or more CCTs. I do not know what the CRI of this mixed-source light is. And yes, they can lie. Lying sells at a much higher profit margin than performance does.

Which Nichia product are you referring to?
As far as I know, Nichia only has 85 min with 92 typical, which is not 92+.

 

[mvyrmnd]

It would appear that you are correct, according to nichia's product page...

Well there you go!

 

[alpg88]

b.s. there are only few leds with 90+cree, in exstance. none is 5000-6200k, they are about 3000k

 

[Marcturus]

No need to get "exstanced." What's the problem, WeLight's 5000K COBs not meeting the "led emitter" definition?

Unlike Nichia's "R85 (typ.92)" LEDs, their "R90" ones are min 90 CRI. Those who haven't noticed might want to refresh their data. But Nichia's sw50 bin is 47xx...53xx K-ish, so if you strictly want 5000K+...

 

[18650]

b.s. there are only few leds with 90+cree, in exstance. none is 5000-6200k, they are about 3000k

There are plenty of Cree products available in 4000K and 5000K varieties with 90 CRI. Look up the CXA series.

 

[videoman]

Thanks everyone, but I was originally referring to them tiny teenie weenie leds that you all have seen in them small or largish rectangular panels advertised as for video use. Them panels usually contain like 128, 256, 512 or 1024 small leds in them. Many of them claim daylight balanced 5200K to 6000K in color temperature and many of them claim high CRI numbers in the 90's. Either their advertisement is full of c#@p or they just throw around numbers to impress. Many of those panels are in the low price ranges of under $400 even for the 1024 ones. The reason I am asking is that I was looking at some of them panels in a photo store and the salesman was 100% sure the CRI figures were 90 or above. According to the printed spec sheets in the box. I guess one can print what one wants to. I doubt very much those were Nichia's in them.

 

[bshanahan14rulz]

Depends on if the panels were all white, or white and color LEDs. Also, were you using 6000mAh 18650 cells to drive them? ;-)

 

[videoman]

How about this one with a CRI claimed of 95+ CRI ?? http://www.aputure.com/blog/2014/02/24/cri-95-led-video-light-al-h160/

 

[bshanahan14rulz]

I lol'd

I thought about designing something like this a while ago, until I talked to some camera folks who said that really it doesn't matter that much, that they edit their photos after taking them anyways, so they could just change the white balance and color of the image in photoshop.

That, and I'm not a very motivated person.

 

[snarfer]

Having walked around a number of trade shows with a spectrometer, I am pretty confident that the specs on those lights are accurate. I am also curious where they get their LEDs.

I suspect that the answer is that these LEDs are simply not from the standard catalog but available to order directly from a number of different manufacturers with large MOQ and long lead time. Probably MOQ 100K and 2 to 3 month lead time.

 

[Harold_B]

What spectrometer are you using? Not calling you out, I carry a portable that interfaces with my iPhone and it was around $1KUS. I'm always looking for a less expensive alternative since objective measurement is the best way to verify manufacturer claims like CRI.

 

[snarfer]

I have a UPRTek MK350. But it cost at least twice that and and probably isn't even as good. If you're looking for something cheap try this project.

 

[Harold_B]

Thanks for the link. Looks like fun if nothing else. This is the Allied Scientific unit I'm using. http://alliedscientificpro.com/shop/worlds-first-smartphone-spectrometer-lighting-passport/

Sorry about hijacking the thread but I really do think having a handheld spectrometer would answer your questions on the spot.