Why so many preferences when it comes to tint?

[AnAppleSnail]

My own tint preferences at any given moment are based on several internal and external factors.

Am I tired? (Prefer warmer tint unless I need high acuity)
Have I been on the high-bay HID-lit floor, the dim underbelly of a scouring machine, enjoying a late evening outside, or at home near my hydroponics shelf? (Prefer tint like what I've been around, unless I'm looking into a tunnel)
What time of day is it? (later, warmer is usually better)
What am I looking at? (I like to match tint to tint. Outside = green or warmer. Inside is usually blue and cooler).

These all change my tint preferences.

 

[kaichu dento]

I think intensity is more important than CCT. Natural lighting at night is very high CCT. The moon is above 4000K and most of the visible stars are higher CCT than the sun. However, the intensity is much lower than natural daylight. I don't think humans were meant to be under lighting much more intense than a full moon for at least 9 to 10 hours per day. As a good example that CCT doesn't matter, you have birds chirping and other creatures doing things they usually only do in daytime under HPS/LPS, and yet those lights have very low CCT.

Of course, there are always exceptions. I'm a night person, so when my bedroom is flooded with full sunlight it actually makes me sleepy. I don't suffer from the problem of bright artificial lighting keeping me awake as my body tells me I should be awake during the hours when most people are sleeping. It helps that my cats largely follow the same schedule.

This is a great point and I started noticing the effect it had on my preference a few years ago when I initially thought I only liked warm tints, only to discover that I like cooler tints the lower the output level.

Not only that, but beam profile also affects how I feel about tint, with a preference for warmer tints on tighter beams and cooler tints with wider beams, although overall output level still carries a lot of weight in the end.