• CRI, TLCI, and TM30 are all systems for evaluating color rendering by measuring various color frequencies
• In applications where color rendition is critical, only fixtures with high ratings can truly reproduce proper hue, saturation, and color temperature
• If a fixture is deficient in a certain wavelengths, then any object illuminated by that source will appear to be deficient in those colors too.
• Even though a fixture with a discontinuous spectrum (LED, HMI, etc.) can be “correlated” to a color temperature (CCT), the way it renders colors could be very different than a lamp of similar color temperature with a continuous spectrum
CRI
• CRI stands for Color Rendering Index and was developed in the 1930’s
• CRI was never intended for camera use and has hit limitations making it inappropriate for cinematography
• CRI measures 8 different color frequencies. The CRI value is the average of the eight results, (Ra)
• CRI is a scale from 0-100 measuring a lights ability to reproduce a full color spectrum
• CRI 15 has been implemented, adding seven additional colors making 15 color reference points
TLCI
• TLCI stands for Television Lighting Consistency Index
• TLCI is based on algorithms for responses of modern cameras including HDTV, CCD, and CMOS
• TLCI measures 24 different frequencies. The TLCI value is the average of the 24 results
• TLCI is a scale from 0-100
TM30
• TM30 is the American National Standard method for evaluating light source color rendition, developed in 2015 by the Illumination Engineering Society (IES)
• TM30 readings consists of 3 parts vs CRI which is a single reading.
• TM30-Color Fidelity Index measures 99 different color frequencies. The result is the average of the 99 colors on a scale of 0-100
• TM30-Color Gamut Index measures how saturated colors are under a given light. Scores below 100 indicate less color saturation, scores over 100 means colors are more intense than a reference source.
• TM30-Vector Graphic shows which colors are saturated and desaturated and is a visual representation vs a numerical score
OVERVIEW
• Color rendering is how well lights will reproduce a full spectrum of color
• CRI is a dated standard using only 8 pastel colors plus additional 7 colors added to improve the CRI score
• TLCI improves upon CRI by using 24 colors and adapting to different cameras
• TM30 is the latest standard measuring Color Fidelity with 99 colors, Color Gamut, and Vector Graphic
