Digital BW, The Print

Louis Dina wrote:
> Steve,
> 
> Another great light source is a fluorescent bulb made by Philips.  They 
> have almost exactly 5000K temp with a 98CRI. It doesn't get much better 
> than that.  I've measured it with my Eye One.  I own both the Philips 
> fluorescents and Solux bulbs and I prefer the Philips.  Softer more 
> even light for viewing.  I also have them in a ceiling fixture for my 
> entire office, so everything is 5000K (4700K in the case of the 
> Solux).  
> 
> The Philips bulbs are made in Holland, so I'd expect them to be 
> available in the UK.  The 24" fluorescent bulb (F17T8/TL950) fits any 
> T8 fixture.  I bought a cheap fixture at the local Home Depot store and 
> just replaced the bulb.  They also have 36 and 48 inch tubes.
> 
> Lou

I have the same Philips fluorescents in the print room but 36W 
length.

Some comments:
Philips has nice high color quality fluorescents but finding 
compact versions of the same quality also made by Philips 
seems to be impossible. They had a shorter tube like compact 
but that's also no longer available.
I'm using the True-Lite compact made in Greece, another type 
is advertised here:
http://www.fotoflits.nl/index.php?cPath=29&osCsid=d4b9d40d6d669c4d8866269d146d667f
There are few galleries around that have 5000K lighting so 
while I compare the prints, proofs with the 5000K lights I 
also have a 500 watt halogen lamp facing the ceiling for a 
final check with that 3200K light mixed with the fluorescents 
5000K what it might look like in a gallery.

I'm wondering how good 5000K LED lamps are meanwhile. NEC uses 
arrays of LED lamps behind their LCD screens that allow some 
color control (RGB LEDs) but there are several white 5000K 
LEDs for sale already. The color quality isn't more than 75 
CRI thought. It would be an ideal lamp as it keeps its quality 
much longer than tungsten or fluorescent lamps, uses little 
energy, cool and small size.


                    --
           Ernst Dinkla


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