Onthelightside
Enlightened
I was wondering what the difference was between Neurtal LEDs and HCRI LEDs. It sounds like they both give a warmer tint but there are two different terms that come up.
Neutral vs HCRI lights?
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TweakMDS
Enlightened
Neutral (vs cold vs warm) has to do with the color temperature of a light. Roughly anything above 5500K will be considered cool white and appear blue. 4000k - 5500k is considered neutral white, and anything below 4000K is normally considred warm and will appear yellow/amber.
The sun on a sunny day has a color temperature of about 5500K, so that's a good reference point.
High CRI has to do with the broadness of the spectrum that the light gives. A high CRI gives you better color rendition (all colors easily recognizable) and is not necessarily linked to the color temperature of a light, but high CRI in LEDs if more often found in the neutral or warmer.
Hope that helps.
The sun on a sunny day has a color temperature of about 5500K, so that's a good reference point.
High CRI has to do with the broadness of the spectrum that the light gives. A high CRI gives you better color rendition (all colors easily recognizable) and is not necessarily linked to the color temperature of a light, but high CRI in LEDs if more often found in the neutral or warmer.
Hope that helps.
CarpentryHero
Flashlight Enthusiast
Nichia 219 4500k 92 cri is the best of both worlds, looks nuetral and is hi cri.
Cree led are in the 90-95 cri but are around 3000-3500k color temp.
Cree led are in the 90-95 cri but are around 3000-3500k color temp.
CRI is a measure of how well a particular CCT renders color against 16 [IIRC] colors, and then a score is returned.
The Sun is cool-white, just see the home made videos of people send balloons over 100,000 feet.
Warm-white is light emitted from thermal radiation, and the highest melting point is the tungsten filament, so warm-white is 3700K and under.
Cool-white is named from the light coming from cool (to the touch) linear fluorescent tubes. [yes it is ironic that the hotter object, via blackbody radiation, is named cool]
My neutral is >3500K CCT, and <5000K, ideally 4000-4500K (like car's legal HID headlights)
The Sun is cool-white, just see the home made videos of people send balloons over 100,000 feet.
Warm-white is light emitted from thermal radiation, and the highest melting point is the tungsten filament, so warm-white is 3700K and under.
Cool-white is named from the light coming from cool (to the touch) linear fluorescent tubes. [yes it is ironic that the hotter object, via blackbody radiation, is named cool]
My neutral is >3500K CCT, and <5000K, ideally 4000-4500K (like car's legal HID headlights)
Onthelightside
Enlightened
Thanks for the explanation everyone, I knew there must be some difference but was just not sure what it was. I think I will have to see the neutrals and High CRI before I get one. Everyone that has one says they love it but I am just a bit unsure at the moment. I also am poor 
I'm poor too.
Spring for a Zebra Light H51c or H51Fc (floody) or try the new ZL H502c (pure flood, 4000K color temperature) or H502d (pure flood, 5000K color temperature) if you value quality of light and plan to use the light a lot from arm's length to 10+ meters or so... if you want a light that reaches out far (throws) then you will not be satisfied, but if you want a great headlamp that leaves your hands free and also works just fine in the hand or clipped to a baseball hat, while giving you excellent quality of light for any kind of work, good range of light levels and long run times, then you'll find that your money was well spent.
I use mine every day and it's always a pleasure, I've never regretted spending the 70$, though it was difficult to justify when I bought the thing. I can work for hours with it in the dark with it clipped to my hat and forget that I'm even using a flashlight.
The worst thing I can say about them is that they are so small and light, they are easy to misplace, but small and light is really nice if you can keep track of the light.
Spring for a Zebra Light H51c or H51Fc (floody) or try the new ZL H502c (pure flood, 4000K color temperature) or H502d (pure flood, 5000K color temperature) if you value quality of light and plan to use the light a lot from arm's length to 10+ meters or so... if you want a light that reaches out far (throws) then you will not be satisfied, but if you want a great headlamp that leaves your hands free and also works just fine in the hand or clipped to a baseball hat, while giving you excellent quality of light for any kind of work, good range of light levels and long run times, then you'll find that your money was well spent.
I use mine every day and it's always a pleasure, I've never regretted spending the 70$, though it was difficult to justify when I bought the thing. I can work for hours with it in the dark with it clipped to my hat and forget that I'm even using a flashlight.
The worst thing I can say about them is that they are so small and light, they are easy to misplace, but small and light is really nice if you can keep track of the light.
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