How Can We Help?

Recommended Lighting that Best Resembles Daylight

I am working on trying to find the best lighting for a test I am working on. Basically, I need to find a light that best resembles daylight due to the regulation I working on. It looks like the 99 CRI could work but I was wondering if the conditions make sense. 

We're happy to confirm that the 99 CRI ABSOLUTE SERIES™ products produce light output which is extremely similar to daylight. 

It might also be helpful to know that we offer a 30-day return policy for all orders. If these products wind up not being the right fit for your tests, simply let us know and we would be happy to issue a prepaid return label so that the items can be returned for a refund.

Can you please provide the photometric reports? I believe this will greatly help me in my decision on finding a product that could work for my testing. Also, is there anything special I would need to purchase to use the bulbs (ie certain setup or can I put in a normal lamp?)

We have attached the links for the 99 CRI photometric reports below, as requested. Please note that, unlike our traditional A19 and BR30 bulbs, these products are not designed for standard lamp bases, and will require additional power supplies such as the 12V FilmGrade™ DC Power Supply for LED Strip.

ABSOLUTE SERIES™ LED Linear Module - 99 CRI - 1 ft / 280 mm MCPCB: https://store.waveformlighting.com/products/absolute-series-99-cri-led-linear-module

ABSOLUTE SERIES™ LED Flexible Strip - 99 CRI - 16 ft / 5 m Reel: https://store.waveformlighting.com/products/absolute-series-led-flexible-strip-99-cri-16-ft-5-m-reel

5000K Photometric Report: https://www.waveformlighting.com/photometrics/TR_7001.50.pdf

6500K Photometric Report: https://www.waveformlighting.com/photometrics/TR_7001.65.pdf

High CRI LED Strip Lights for Light Boxes

I have a design client that I'm working with on a living room update. The short story is that a series of 5 clerestory windows have had to be covered over because of a roofing change. I'm looking at the idea of converting the 'empty' overhead windows into lightboxes using high CRI-led strips to simulate the same overhead lights. I'd appreciate some guidance to make sure I spec the right products. 

Based on the details provided, there are a few different products that we might recommend.

If your client would like to simulate the different stages of natural daylight, we might recommend the FilmGrade™ HYBRID LED Strip Lights product, which can be controlled remotely to achieve any color temperature between 3200K and 6500K.

This product can be controlled and adjusted using several different methods, such as an RF remote or Bluetooth app, which are described in the following article: https://www.waveformlighting.com/film-photography/how-to-connect-hybrid-cct-tunable-led-products

Alternatively, if a single color temperature output is preferable then we might recommend the FilmGrade™ WHITE LED Strip Lights.

High CRI LED lighting for Photographic Printmaking

I am a professional printmaker for photographers who sell their work in galleries. I also produce prints for museum exhibits and corporate photography installations. I am building a new print-making studio. I would like high CRI lighting for my print viewing/color-correcting area. I need 5000K Hi CRI (95 or higher) for color correcting as well as 2700K and 3000K high CRI to view prints for how they will look under gallery or museum lighting. I would prefer to have one light source to be able to produce all three color temperatures. Each color temperature would be used one at a time. Which of your products would work best for my application?

Our high CRI LED lighting offerings sound like a great fit for both the color viewing (D50 / 5000K) as well as gallery/museum lighting conditions (2700K/3000K).

​Unfortunately, we do not offer any products that feature the ability to switch between those color points, so we would instead recommend installing separate lamps for each of the color points needed.

​For the D50 / 5000K color point, our line of NorthLux or D50 products will work well for your needs. For example, please see below for our A19, T8 lamp or T5 fixture options:

https://store.waveformlighting.com/collections/a19-bulbs/products/northlux-95-cri-e26-a19-led-bulb-for-artwork-paintinghttps://store.waveformlighting.com/products/northlux-95-cri-t8-led-tube-for-art-studiohttps://store.waveformlighting.com/products/northlux-95-cri-t5-led-linear-light-fixture

Our 2700K and 3000K are a bit more limited in form factors. Below is our A19 and BR30 lamp option:

https://store.waveformlighting.com/collections/a19-bulbs/products/centric-home-full-spectrum-flicker-free-a19-10w-led-bulbhttps://store.waveformlighting.com/collections/br30-bulbs/products/ultra-high-95-cri-e26-br30-led-bulb-for-home-residential

If you can let us know a bit more about the lighting installation in terms of fixtures and location, we'd be glad to assist with some additional recommendations and guidance!

Will your T-8 NorthLux 95 CRI LED tubes operate with a dimmable ballast allowing me to dim the output and still maintain the same color temperature and color rendering index?

Unfortunately our T8 LED lamps are not dimmable, and will not work with a dimmable ballast. Sorry for the bad news!

Absolute Series D65 LED Flexible Strip for Color Matching

Can your Absolute D65 modules be used for color matching? I see you offer D50 T8 lights for color matching, however, we require D65 for textiles. Do you have any plans to offer this light in D65? 

We're happy to confirm that our 6500K ABSOLUTE SERIES™ LED Flexible Strip product is D65 Illuminant-compliant, and can be used for color matching.

We can also confirm that the 6500K NorthLux™ 95 CRI T8 LED Tube for Art & Studio product is compliant with the D65 Illuminant standard as well.

LED Lighting Suggestion for Photography

I am looking for an equivalent of 50 W bulb D65 to screw in (for a dim room lighting 8'x13'x8'), another one around 75-80 W D50 also to screw into my desk lamp to hard proof my prints, and another one of around 3700K also for prints evaluation. 

While we, unfortunately, do not offer D65 bulbs that would into traditional lamp fixtures, we do offer the D65 ABSOLUTE SERIES™ LED Linear Module product, which might be an alternative depending on your installation.

We also offer the D50 5000K A19 LED Bulb for Color Matching (ISO3664:2000) product, as well as the D50 5000K T8 LED Tube Lights for Color Matching (ISO3664:2000) product, which may also be worth consideration. However, these D50 calibrated products are currently only available in the 5000K color temperature.

If I understand correctly, your lights are “full spectrum” eg 6500 K seems to be not far away from D65. Would it be wrong, if my display is on D65, to use one of your bulbs for my ambient light? centric? Northlux? Ultrahigh 95 jewelry? Avian? I do not see any difference between them except that one of them is Flickr-free but same price. 

If this does not work (800 lm could be too bright), and those LED are not dimmable without any further installation, another option could be bias lighting. I have an NEC PA302W: it is a 27.1 x 18 monitor on a stand. Should I use the sidewinder reels? How many? I understand a portion of 24” horizontally, and half of a foot on both sides with 1 reel. Will it be OK like that? Will it be necessary to use a dimmer? I have a black curtain on my window, so it is pretty dark when the door is closed.

We're happy to confirm that the majority of our products are indeed a full spectrum.

Further, we can also confirm many of our products are quite similar. If you have a specific set of products in mind to compare, I would be more than happy to explain the differences between them.

Regarding bias lighting, the Sidewinder™ LED Flex Strip for D65 Bias Lighting product could be a great option for your space.

Based on the measurements provided of your monitor, we recommend two 3.2 ft (1 meter) units of the Sidewinder™ LED Flex Strip product to wrap the back of the display in lighting, depending on the layout that you choose for installation.

This product can also be paired with a dimmer, in the event the level of the emitted light is too bright for all use cases. We recommend pairing this product with the 24V DC power supply, as well as the FilmGrade™ Flicker-Free LED Dimmer product.

I am looking for a D65 bulb for the ceiling but that will be probably too bright as ambient light and this will send some light directly to my computer screen. Moreover, they are non-dimmable or necessitate an installation too complex for me. Anyway, there is a bulb over there, and I will choose one which is adapted; I am a photographer. Flicker-free? 

1. What is the difference between the lights?

Based on the details that have been provided of your space, the A19 bulb that I would primarily recommend would be the 6500K NorthLux™ 95 CRI E26 A19 LED Bulb for Art & Studio product, which was designed to be D65 Illuminant-compliant. This means that the product strictly aligns with a global standard designed for color work. However, please note that while many of our A19 bulbs are flicker-free, none of the A19 bulbs previously mentioned are dimmable. As such, these products may not be beneficial for your space.

That being said, we can confirm that some products are indeed the same item, such as the CENTRIC DAYLIGHT™ A19, as well as the Ultra High 95 CRI A19 bulb. This can be noted by the shared product number, listed as PN 4005.65. This is also true for some other products that we offer. 

​We do apologize for any confusion which may have arisen, as these products appear on multiple pages for marketing purposes.

2. How to connect the 2 strips: daisy chain? connectors?

We're happy to confirm that the Sidewinder™ LED Flex Strip product is designed with plugs on each end of the reel, which allows for the product to be daisy-chained together without additional hardware. I have attached a photo of the product, which may prove to be helpful. That being said, please note that a compatible 24V DC power supply, such as our FilmGrade™ DC Power Supply for LED Strip product, would still be required.

3. What do you mean about “depending on the layout you choose for the installation”?

We do apologize for any confusion caused by my wording. Some bias lighting is installed as one horizontal strip behind the monitor. If this was the installation that you would prefer, we might recommend one unit of the Sidewinder product.

Alternatively, we have seen other bias lighting installed as three strips of lighting. Two vertical strips are applied to the back of the monitor parallel to the sides, and one horizontal strip is applied to the back of the monitor which runs parallel to the top. If this is the installation that you would prefer, we might recommend two units of the Sidewinder product.

6500K Flicker-free Lighting for Art Capture, Color Correction and Fine art Printing

I perform art to capture, color correction, and fine art printing. I am using Ikan Lyra LEDs at this time but not so happy with their results. They are okay, but I am looking for 6500K lighting, also flicker-free. I see you have bulbs and strips. 

We suspect that the primary reason for the difficulty in judging color differences is due to an incomplete spectrum emitted by the Ikan product. Specifically, this will likely be reflected in a low CRI value, possibly in the 80-90 range. (You may also want to look into the R9 value, which provides even more data about red color rendering in particular).

As a starting point, we would recommend experimenting with a few of our 95 CRI products. Here are the A19 bulbs which are daylight calibrated to D50 (5000K) and D65 (6500K) with a 95 CRI rating and would be a great starting point for your tests:

https://store.waveformlighting.com/collections/a19-bulbs/products/northlux-95-cri-e26-a19-led-bulb-for-artwork-painting

If you would like to consider our LED strip lights, we would recommend our FilmGrade LED strip lights which are offered in both 5600K and 6500K:

https://store.waveformlighting.com/products/filmgrade-led-strip-lights-for-film-photography

Our 5000K LED strip lights (also in 95 CRI) are listed under our retail & commercial section:

https://store.waveformlighting.com/products/ultra-high-95-cri-led-strip-lights-for-commercial

Installing the LED strip lights will require a bit of additional assembly and installation work. For additional guidance, we recommend referencing our layout maps which can be found at the link below:

https://www.waveformlighting.com/layoutmaps

​Finally, ​we would recommend taking advantage of our returns policy to test out several of the color temperature options and determine if our products do indeed offer an improvement over your current setup. The full policy can be found below:

https://store.waveformlighting.com/pages/returns-refunds-policy

Difference between NorthLux™ 95 CRI E26 A19 LED Bulb for Art & Studio and CENTRIC DAYLIGHT™ Full Spectrum Flicker-Free A19 10W LED Bulb.

I'm intending to purchase 6500K lighting of either NorthLux™ 95 CRI E26 A19 LED Bulb for Art & Studio (4005.D65) or your CENTRIC DAYLIGHT™ Full Spectrum Flicker-Free A19 10W LED Bulb (4005.65). Can you please provide clarification regarding what further differences exist between these two products?

The primary difference between the NorthLux and the Centric Daylight is that the NorthLux has chromaticity points calibrated to D50 and D65 color points, for the 5000K and 6500K versions, respectively.​While the Centric Daylight also offers 95 CRI, the exact color point is not as precise.​If you are looking for a color point that matches ISO standards, we would recommend the NorthLux / D50 product lines.

What is the difference between CENTRIC DAYLIGHT™ 5000K/6500K and D50/NorthLux™?

Several of our products are listed on multiple product pages for marketing purposes. This is also the case for the CENTRIC DAYLIGHT™ (5000K/6500K), D50 and NorthLux™ product lines.

The 5000K products below are the same underlying product:

PN 4005C.50: CENTRIC DAYLIGHT™ 5000KPN 4005C.50: D50PN 4005C.50: NorthLux™ 5000K

The 6500K products below are the same underlying product:

PN 4005C.65: CENTRIC DAYLIGHT™ 6500KPN 4005C.65: NorthLux™ 6500K

All of these products are calibrated to the D50 and D65 color standards for color viewing and other vision-critical applications at 5000K and 6500K, respectively. These products are all great lighting solutions for professional or color-critical applications, as well as specialty indoor lighting applications such as light therapy.

Note: this product page was updated in November 2021 to reflect the most recent changes to our product specifications and offerings. For customers who purchased these products prior to 2021, please reference the archived article here.

[Archived] What is the difference between CENTRIC DAYLIGHT™ 5000K/6500K and D50/NorthLux™?

[ARCHIVED ARTICLE] This article has been archived as of November 2021 due to recent changes in our product specifications. Please see this article for the most up-to-date information on our current offerings. Customers who purchased our lamps prior to 2021 (lamps marked with PN 4005.XX rather than PN 4005C.XX) can continue to reference the archived information below.

Several of our products are listed on multiple product pages for marketing purposes. One major exception is our 10 watt A19 bulb product line, for which we offer the two part number variants for each of the 5000K and 6500K color points:

5000K:

PN 4005.50: CENTRIC DAYLIGHT™ 5000KPN 4005.D50: D50 / NorthLux™ 5000K

6500K:

PN 4005.65: CENTRIC DAYLIGHT™ 6500KPN 4005.D65: NorthLux™ 6500K

You will notice that the D50 and NorthLux™ product lines have a "D" prefix in the color temperature designation inside the part number. This signifies that these products are calibrated to the D50 and D65 color standards for color viewing and other vision-critical applications at 5000K and 6500K, respectively.

The CENTRIC DAYLIGHT™ products are also available in 5000K and 6500K, but they are not designed for color viewing applications. Specifically, they have a slightly greener tint (elevated Duv values), which is a closer approximation of the ANSI chromaticity targets for daylight color points.

In short, if you're looking for a lighting solution for a professional or color-critical application, we recommend the D50 / D65 designated NorthLux™ lamps. On the other hand, if you're using the lamps for indoor lighting such as light therapy, the CENTRIC DAYLIGHT™ lamps will be a great option.

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