What is CRI in LED lighting industry ?
CRI is abbrivation of color rendering index, it is a optical parameter to describe the ability of the color rendering to its original color of subject, meassured unit is Ra. The higher the number is, the better color rendering to the bulb.
Generally, the incandescent bulb has the higher CRI than halogen or LED bulb. However, that doesn’t mean there is no high CRI for the LED bulb. There is also 90Ra or 95Ra LED bulb in the market, which is used in some special occasions such as the grocery, meat or fruit store in order to drive more sales/turnover because the high CRI lamp can make these stuff feel more fresh and eye-catching.
For indoor lighting, minimum CRI 80Ra is required for job task or working, while for outdoor lighting, mininum 70Ra for safe driving illumination when buying LED bulb or LED fixtures.
What’s the benefit of LED light since we know, to some degree, LED CRI is not as good as the traditional incandescent ?
Every coin has two sides, this is the same to LED and other conventional bulbs.
Although LED source CRI is lower than incandescent, halogen, high pressure sodium, mercury vapor and metal halide, its lumen efficacy is higher than its rivals. People create and promote it globally because it saves 75-80% more energy in contrast with incandescent, HID bulbs, besides, it is more lasting with less maintenance cost and environment friendly.
The outdated bulbs has its own application, but for general and custom lighting, LED is the better option.
Factors to Consider When Choosing a Lighting System
What other important parameter I need to look at when I purchase LED except the CRI ?
I summerize the most important parameters separately for interior and exterior lighting for your tutorial, hope it is helpful. I understand there is indeed some special demand for smart control like the dimming ability or motion detection using motion sensor or photocell sensor, so I cannot list all of them.
Indoor luminaires
LED high bay light ( LED & driver brands, lumen efficacy )
LED flat panel or troffer light (LED & driver brands, lumen efficacy, UGR, backlit or edge lit )
LED t8 tube ( THD, lumen efficacy, isloated driver or not, wiring types: type A/B/C/A+B )
Outdoor luminaires
LED shoebox light (LED & driver brands, efficacy, light patterns:type II/III/IV/V, IP grade, mounting bracket )
LED flood light (LED & driver brands, efficacy, IP rate)
LED wall pack (LED & driver brands, efficacy, diffuser:PC or glass )
LED post top light (LED & driver brands, efficacy )
LED canopy light ( LED & driver brands, efficacy, mounting types)
