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The Color Rendering Index (CRI) is a scale from 0 to 100 percent that indicates how accurate a given light source (e.g., an LED bulb) is at rendering color when compared to a reference light source (e.g., the sun). Basically, if you were outside on a sunny day, you’d be looking at an object with 100% CRI. So the CRI rating tells you how close to sunlight your bulb’s light is at rendering color.

It’s worth noting that CRI is independent of color temperature. A “warmer,” more yellowish LED light with a CCT value of 3000 K could have an excellent CRI of 90+ while a 5400 K “daylight” bulb could have a CRI of 75.

As a general rule, incandescent light has always been very good at rendering color, often with a CRI near 100. However, they are limited in the range of color temperatures they offer, skewing more to warmer, yellower tones. They are also extremely inefficient, converting only five percent of the energy they consume to light while the rest escapes as heat.

By contrast, LEDs have a wide range of color temperatures. While not all LEDs have high CRI values, all of Sunlake’s LED lamps achieve a CRI of 80+, with some rated 90+. Not only are LEDs much cheaper to operate, they also last much longer, meaning they need to be replaced much less frequently than traditional incandescent bulbs.

Typically CRI isn’t going to matter too much in our daily lives. As long as the bulbs you’re using have a CRI of 80+, things will appear much as they do in direct sunlight. For certain applications, like retail settings where it’s imperative to be able to see minute differences between paint swatches or textiles, a higher CRI is likely necessary.