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Comment by NooneAtAll3

5 hours ago

what's the alternative metric to look for as a consumer?

Few bulb manufacturers even bother to report CRI, unless it is decent (CRI > 90). If CRI is not reported, you can be sure it's bad, 80 or less.

Unfortunately, there isn't really a way for a consumer to know short of buying a spectrometer like my Sekonic C-800 Spectromaster.

For illustration, I have uploaded a few readings here, mostly flashlights, not LED bulbs: https://majid.info/images/reddit/spectro/

If you look at the Zebralight SC64c LE, for instance, it has an excellent Ra of 92, but only 75 for R9:

https://majid.info/images/reddit/spectro/ZL_SC64cLE/SC64cLE_...

It is not reported often by the manufacturer, but SSI and TLCI numbers can be a better metric if available. They are used by the Broadcast/Photography community to match the spectrum's similarity to Sunlight.