Help finding T8 (or fixture/stand) bulb(s) for accurate color matching in my shop

RDUBiker

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Apr 24, 2017
Messages
1
Hello everyone, new to the forum here. I run a leather and vinyl repair business and often have cars and furniture in my workshop which I need to mix and match colors for.

I recently bought these bulbs from 1000bulbs:

https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/56690/F-32L359.html

with 5000K and 90CRI, but when I pull the vehicle or furniture out into the sun, I find that the red wavelength of the bulbs must be a bit off because my reds are often not quite right and the color I mix is off on the red scale even though it looked amazing under the lights in the shop.

I see they have these:

https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/152921/PHILIPS-209056.html

but don't know if they would be accurate in all spectrums or not.

Can anyone in any industry that requires accurate color matching recommend any bulb or fixture or light source I can install in my shop so that I don't have issues any longer?

Thank you!
 

ssanasisredna

Enlightened
Joined
Oct 19, 2016
Messages
457
Hello everyone, new to the forum here. I run a leather and vinyl repair business and often have cars and furniture in my workshop which I need to mix and match colors for.

I recently bought these bulbs from 1000bulbs:

https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/56690/F-32L359.html

with 5000K and 90CRI, but when I pull the vehicle or furniture out into the sun, I find that the red wavelength of the bulbs must be a bit off because my reds are often not quite right and the color I mix is off on the red scale even though it looked amazing under the lights in the shop.

I see they have these:

https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/152921/PHILIPS-209056.html

but don't know if they would be accurate in all spectrums or not.

Can anyone in any industry that requires accurate color matching recommend any bulb or fixture or light source I can install in my shop so that I don't have issues any longer?

Thank you!

If you are trying to color match red, you may be best off with just plain old Halogen lamps.

If you are looking for something general purpose, the 4000K, Xicato Artist series modules are pretty close to perfect. The same would be true at 3000K if you prefer not to use halogen lamps. The TL950 is a very good lamp.

There are specialized setups for color matching, but they are not cheap.

Sunlight can present some problems due to U.V. excitation of materials, but if you are talking inside the car, the glass usually blocks most of that. That would not be true for say a motorcycle seat though. There are some sources that better simulate sun when you throw in the UV component.

... and the best thing you can do is have a bunch of sources and use all of them .... your customer will be doing the same.
 

iamlucky13

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Oct 11, 2016
Messages
1,139
I just happened to check this retailer's page yesterday looking for another product, and saw that they apparently have a T8 LED coming out soon. $18 a bulb is not cheap, and their shipping is slow, but they have a pretty solid reputation for good high CRI output, including good R9 specs. Good R9 scores usually indicate good red rendering in general.

https://store.yujiintl.com/products/bc-series-high-cri-t8-led-tube?variant=41785220691

No promises, but it's one that's arguably worth considering.
 
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