Another Color Rendering Metric: Do We Really Need It, Can We Live without It?

ABSTRACTMost descriptions of the color rendering properties of light sources are based on the calculation of color differences for a number of reflectance samples between the light source and a reference source. The CIE color rendering index (CRI) is a single number based on the average color difference for eight reflectance samples. Since its introduction, the CRI has been discussed at length and many alternatives have been suggested to improve the description of color rendering. These metrics comprise among others, metrics based on color fidelity, color gamut, and color preference and combinations of these. All of these new proposals try to capture a certain color rendering aspect in a single number index to be used instead of or together with the existing CIE CRI. The “traditional” CRI has been criticized due to the fact that a single number index does not provide sufficient information about the color rendering properties of light sources. Creating a (second) single number metric seems to be a bit of ...