Just Curious..

[dieselducy]

I have been a flashaholic for a while now I remember when my Maglite with Luxeon was awesome Then I got my first Cree XRE and it blew it out of the water. Now I have a question. I have cool neutral and high cri/warm lights. After using Neutral and High Cri, how can anybody possibly have a use for a washed out cool white beam like so many lights use now? To me personally the neutral is the best tint for all round although I use High CRI more. Why aren't more manufacturers making neutral lights and high cri? as to me these much better tints are FAR more useful at work.

 

[shane45_1911]

You are forgetting that the vast majority of flashlight users are not on this forum and are not flashaholics. The overwhelming share of the flashlight-buying public wants lumens. They don't care about tint, they just want the brightest light possible. And cool tints still deliver the most lumens, all things being equal.

 

[varmint]

What tint do you call a very bright 'white' light?
thanks

 

[Chrisdm]

Its just like the megapixels in cameras, the way they are marketed to the ignorant masses. They think the camera with the most megapixels must be the best one, not being able to comprehend the tradeoff the more educated consumer understands. The companies know and prey on this.... In the same way the typical layman buyer would choose a 750 lumen flashlight over a 600 lumen flashlight, simply because it is brighter. They dont compute the tradeoff of the ugliness of tint, or dont care...

 

[itguy07]

What is considered cool and warm? I'm thinking color temperature similar to how CFL's and LED lights are rated.

Personally I hate Incandescent light. I don't want things taking on a yellow cast at all and that's what you get with incans. Give me a good white or daylight and I'm happy. It lets colors be the colors they should be (white is white rather than tinted yellow) and seems to be brighter too.

I also can't stand too blue light too for the same reasons.

 

[ico]

I think many thinks of the colour blue when refering to cool white. But for me, those CW are the ones who are really just plain white. Those are the one that I like. My neutral zebra light is already a bit toomuch yellow so I guess getting a warm would only make me hate yellow more. I haven't seen a high CRI though so maybe what I call coolwhite(a pure white light) is a High CRI for somebody else

 

[bob4apple]

A lot also has to do with personal taste and perception, in a fashion similar to audio.
People not only hear differently, they see differently too. (Sometimes dramatically so,
as in color-blindness.)

Don't assume everybody notices tint varieties as acutely as you do.

 

[mcnair55]

I could not give a hoot about tints etc etc,all I want is light that comes out of the opposite end I put the batteries in.If I see what I am doing when using a light that is good enough for me.

 

[LGT]

I have been a flashaholic for a while now I remember when my Maglite with Luxeon was awesome Then I got my first Cree XRE and it blew it out of the water. Now I have a question. I have cool neutral and high cri/warm lights. After using Neutral and High Cri, how can anybody possibly have a use for a washed out cool white beam like so many lights use now? To me personally the neutral is the best tint for all round although I use High CRI more. Why aren't more manufacturers making neutral lights and high cri? as to me these much better tints are FAR more useful at work.

I guess it's all a matter of personal preference. While I enjoy the high cri/warm tints, I also enjoy the cool whites and in some cases prefer them over high cri/warm tints.

 

[GaAslamp]

Give me a good white or daylight and I'm happy. It lets colors be the colors they should be (white is white rather than tinted yellow) and seems to be brighter too.

The problem that some people have with typical cool white LEDs is that while white may look whiter, other colors do NOT look right to them. For example, purples may look more bluish than they do under typical daylight conditions, and some yellow and orange hues may look pale and greenish. Some people either may not see or may not care, but it's significant to others, who may find it preferable to put up with a slight yellowish tint than a major lack of red and orange values. Perhaps a solution that would please many people is high-CRI cool white LEDs, which retain the pure white appearance while rendering warmer colors more accurately with respect to daylight. Such LEDs exist, but flashlight manufacturers, save for one or two custom builders, have ignored them thus far. :shrug: