Light Bulb Color Facts

Light Color Characteristics

The Color Rendering Index (CRI) is a rating scale up to 100 that rates a light source's ability to accurately convey true color. Light sources with a low CRI will make objects and skin tones appear washed out and dull. Lamps with high CRI ratings bring life to a subject and make colors more vivid. Many CFLs have CRI ratings that exceed 80, which is considered excellent.

Lamp color, on the other hand, is based on a color temperature scale with a measurement called Kelvin. A warm color of light would be in the 2000K to 3000K range and would make reds, oranges and yellows more dominant. Light sources with a color temperature in the 4000K range would feature more blue or cool tones.

The variety of color temperature options and CRI ratings for fluorescent light sources have improved dramatically thanks to advances in the types of phosphors used. So now your customers can see themselves in their best light without sacrificing energy savings.

In the above picture, you see the visible differences of the color ranges. The colors vary from a warm, 3000K range color temperature on the left. In the middle picture, you see a neutral to cool 3500K to 4100K color range. On the right, you see the daylight color temperatures in the range of about 5000K.