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Show products in category What are the benefits of a CRI90 downlight?

What are the benefits of a CRI90 downlight?

03 April 2023

What are the benefits of a CRI90 downlight?

The way certain colours look under different light sources is called colour rendering. Colour rendering is rated using the Colour Rendering Index, which is commonly abbreviated to CRI.

The CRI is a scale of 0 to 100, measuring the ability of a light source to accurately replicate the true colours of an object it is illuminating. A score of 100 indicates that the light source will show colours as they would appear in natural daylight.

A rating of 90 and above is an exceptional rating, displaying colours as accurately or nearly as accurately as daylight.

But what are the advantages of choosing a higher CRI?

Firstly, the red definition is at least 5 times better, making skin tones more detailed and truer to life. Adding to this, TM-30-15 values are significantly better and much more accurate.

Under CRI90 and above, cyan, which our eyes use to differentiate texture, is improved. This enhances the visual appearance of objects under a higher CRI light source.

CRI is also important in human-centric designs as it hugely outperforms CRI80 in studies on wakefulness and comfort, which are key elements of mimicking the natural daylight that drives our circadian rhythm.

A higher CRI has been well-utilised in commercial settings for some years, including retail, hospitals and printing facilities. These all benefit from more accurate lighting, either to show goods and items more closely to how they appear in daylight, or allowing detailed processes to be more easily carried out.

Some high-end homes are now recognising the benefits of a CRI of 90 and above. This is to showcase interior design to its full potential, or illuminate the true colours and detail of artwork and architecture. Adding to this, a higher CRI has the potential to visually enhance standard fixings and fittings, such as a mid-range kitchen.

For installations that require a fire-rated downlight, until now it has been a challenge to find one that combines this with CRI90, alongside colour and wattage selection. The new R9 CRI90 from Aurora Lighting has brought this to the trade, offering a unique blend of higher CRI in a fire-rated solution that is also colour and wattage switchable.

The new R6 CRI90 will be available from the end of March.

For more information on the range click here.