How does warm/neutral compare to incandescent?

I really like the tint and color of an incandescent light and was wondering how does a warm/neutral LED compare to it? I would love to see some outdoor beamshots of both. Im debating of just building up a maglite or buying a LED with a warm tint.

Incans are far warmer than neutral which would look white beside an incan. Warm should be close but no experience so far. =D

this thread has beamshots of a TK20, neutral Quarks, and an incan SF P60

Incandescent will still blow away warm/neutral white in terms of color rendition. A hard-driven incan can still look pretty white though still have the better CRI.

Incan is still better in a number of ways but can't compete with the efficiency of LEDs.You may want to do your Mag build anyway but I think you are missing out if you don't get at least one neutral tint LED light.The neutral LEDs offer so much versatality they are just to good to pass up!

The only warm tint LED I have is a Malkoff M60W in a surefire host, like others have said its not like a incan but it is much better than a cooler tint LED. When compared to a cool tint LED the advantages of the warm tint seem to be increased depth up close and at a distance, color rendition that's near true, no fading of tint as the batteries run low (more incan related), and also at distance you don't get the graying out effect.

I think its a better option than a P90 in my C2 but beyond that I'm not sure, 3 warm MC-E's in a maglite could be interesting though

jbosman1013 said:

The only warm tint LED I have is a Malkoff M60W in a surefire host, like others have said its not like a incan but it is much better than a cooler tint LED. When compared to a cool tint LED the advantages of the warm tint seem to be increased depth up close and at a distance, color rendition that's near true, no fading of tint as the batteries run low (more incan related), and also at distance you don't get the graying out effect.

I think its a better option than a P90 in my C2 but beyond that I'm not sure, 3 warm MC-E's in a maglite could be interesting though

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If I'm not mistaken, the M60W is neutral white and not warm white. I've tested cool, neutral and incan side by side.

On trees, cool white washes out the colors. Neutral white's colors are also washed out. There is almost no depth perception with these. Their CRI also appear to be similar (CREE specs them both as 75). Incan looks way better and the depth is now there. The tree suddenly came alive.

On a box which happen to be red. Again, cool and neutral appears to be same. Dull boring colors compared to incan which suddenly made the box look very 3D and the colors jump out.

So, my own conclusion is...
Cool white = Most efficient, very bright and glaring. Good for blinding people and when you need a lot of light for a long time.
Neutral white = Efficient and bright. Very soothing tint to the eyes. Makes eyes less pain when I use it. Good EDC tint.
Incan = best color rendition and really good for visual perception. Very inefficient.

Now I need to try some high CRI LEDs. Anyone wanna make some for less than the asking prices of a custom? =D

http://www.malkoffdevices.com/shop/m30w-warm-tint-beam-to-fit-a-surefire-flashlight-p-31.html

M60W left, M60 Right

Yeah, they're practically the same

If you want an LED closer to an incan, then you should consider the "warm" tint rather than neutral. If the manufacturer can give you a color temp rating on that LED, it needs to be between 3000-3900K to be similar enough to an incan. Nailbender makes some nice drop-ins depending on what light you are using: http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=248771

no where close. (5a neutral)
incan is still king outdoors.
i did use a cree from a husky hi def headlamp from home depot. that was pretty darn close to incan in the color tint. not sure about the cri.

First I would like to state that neutral white is a bit misleading. The tint of neutral white is more warm than neutral, and even without a comparison to other light sources the tint appears as light brown/beige/rose dependent of LED. Therefore I think it's more correct to call them warm white.

The warm white LEDs are much better for colour rendition than cool whites, especially out in the field, but will not provide the colour rendition of incans.
The colour rendition are closer to incans than cool white LEDs, however.
In my opinion.

Regards, Patric

Incans can be strongly tinted, too.
Do I feel my 5A/5B equipped lights equal the color rendition of a well-driven incan with good color temp? No.
At the same time I do not feel horribly shortchanged by them, either, especially relative to the "normally" tinted LEDs.
Because of the constant drive level, I also prefer their color to that of many incans, especially those that are run by alkalines, and underdriven for most of the battery life.

My EZ CR2 W is pretty nice.

Swedpat said:

First I would like to state that neutral white is a bit misleading. The tint of neutral white is more warm than neutral, and even without a comparison to other light sources the tint appears as light brown/beige/rose dependent of LED. Therefore I think it's more correct to call them warm white.

The warm white LEDs are much better for colour rendition than cool whites, especially out in the field, but will not provide the colour rendition of incans.
The colour rendition are closer to incans than cool white LEDs, however.
In my opinion.

Regards, Patric

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Not true...for me, anyway. When I first got my neutral white Quark (Q3 5A) I liked the tint, but it did look distinctly pinkish-orange (not in a bad way). However, now that I have been using it almost exclusively, not using cool tinted LEDs, my eyes have adapted and it looks surprisingly crisp. Moreover, it is still cooler than nearly all artificial lighting, which helps it appear whiter. In reality, there is not really any such thing as a true neutral tint because of the ability of the human eye to compensate to some degree for tint differences.

I think a lot of people miss out on neutral or warm tints because they assume that they will look sickly and yellow. This is not the case...having used a neutral binned LED, I will probably not be buying many more cool white lights, at least not for EDC use.

From what I have experienced with various P60 drop ins... its the high CRI of incan LAs that sets them apart from LEDs, and in many instances makes them worth the efficiency penalty. More so than the color tint.

IMHO of course.

Saint_Dogbert said:

Not true...for me, anyway. When I first got my neutral white Quark (Q3 5A) I liked the tint, but it did look distinctly pinkish-orange (not in a bad way). However, now that I have been using it almost exclusively, not using cool tinted LEDs, my eyes have adapted and it looks surprisingly crisp. Moreover, it is still cooler than nearly all artificial lighting, which helps it appear whiter. In reality, there is not really any such thing as a true neutral tint because of the ability of the human eye to compensate to some degree for tint differences.

I think a lot of people miss out on neutral or warm tints because they assume that they will look sickly and yellow. This is not the case...having used a neutral binned LED, I will probably not be buying many more cool white lights, at least not for EDC use.

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When I read what you are saying I don't really feel that we are TOTALLY disagreed in this matter... I think I will agree with that the eyes to such a level will compensate for the tint.

Using a cool LED without other comparing light source it often seems to be the whitest of white. But as soon it's compared to an incan the bluish instantly will be revealed.
And when I have been using a warm white LED for a while and then put on a cool white the first impression is that the tint isn't comfortable for the eyes. The cool blue tint then doesn't feel natural and relaxed. Therefore I agree with you that a warm white is the best for LEDs. Unfortunately all of my lights (for example with P7-emitter) are not available in the warm white. But I prefer the warm white if I can choose.

Regards, Patric

I like warm white LED's myself. I used 4.8 mm wide angle warm white LED's to build a large digit LED clock and convert a Dorcy Luminator fluorescent lantern to a 100 LED lantern. Looking directly on the LED's they appear very incandescent-like and natural. However, when compared to incandescent, the warm white LED's are a little whiter, more like 3200K not 2700K. Warm white LED's make unique looking clocks.

Swedpat said:

...Using a cool LED without other comparing light source it often seems to be the whitest of white. But as soon it's compared to an incan the bluish instantly will be revealed.
And when I have been using a warm white LED for a while and then put on a cool white the first impression is that the tint isn't comfortable for the eyes. The cool blue tint then doesn't feel natural and relaxed. Therefore I agree with you that a warm white is the best for LEDs. Unfortunately all of my lights (for example with P7-emitter) are not available in the warm white. But I prefer the warm white if I can choose.

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It does sound like we are pretty much on the same page; I agree that cool white LEDs can seem a bit 'uncomfortable'. They can make colors look washed out, even when the eyes have adjusted. Truth be told, I don't find my neutral white Quark to have that much better color rendition than the cool, but it's still easier on my eyes. And at low drive currents, neither really looks white, but I prefer warmer tints over cool here as well.

I have some beamshots in this thread (indoor white walls though, not outdoors) of a JetBeam Element E3P with Q3-5A emitter compared to several other non-warm LED lights and against an incan light as well.