What do we mean by “perfect spectrum” in man-made light sources? Most of us think of daylight when we think of the perfect light source. Daylight does provide beautiful light, but must be constantly mitigated, as it contains harmful ultraviolet radiation, and can be overpoweringly bright and glaring. A perfect spectrum contains only the wavelengths visible to us- no ultraviolet (UV) or infrared (IR) radiation. This makes it both beautiful and efficient, as energy is not wasted producing unnecessary heat or unbalanced amounts of light in different parts of the spectrum.
An often overlooked characteristic of light sources is their ability to render white, arguably as important as colour rendering. Sylvania's technology provides a full-spectrum light source, with continuous emission from violet through deep red. The violet emission properly excites the fluorescing agents present in fabrics and fibres and renders white materials properly, just like they were designed for under natural light sources such as incandescence and sunlight.
When light sources with low colour rendering capabilities are compared side by side with perfect spectrum light sources, the difference is dramatic. Sylvania lamps, with 95 CRI and 95 R9, render parts of the spectrum missing from first generation Low CRI LEDs, such as deep reds, cyans, and violet. Many of the things that are most important to us in our environment- faces, food, fabrics, furniture, and finishes - contain complex colours that don’t look quite right unless they are lit with full spectrum light containing these essential colours.
Most lamps have irregular beam patterns with many artifacts and poor centre-to-edge colour consistency. So when choosing an LED MR16 lamp, it’s important to evaluate all the features of usable light, including Centre Beam Candle Power (CBCP), field, beam shape, and colour over angle.
