How much more does a high CRI LED strip cost than a standard Ra 80 strip?
At the same width, density and wattage, expect a blue-excited Ra 95 board to cost roughly 15-30% more than Ra 80, and a violet-excited full spectrum board 40-70% more. The high CRI LED strip price gap comes from the phosphor blend and tighter binning, not from the FPCB. Add the running cost of the efficacy difference: to hit the same lux with violet excitation you need more watts per metre, which is usually the larger number on a big scheme and negligible on a display case.
What you are paying for
Deep-red and green phosphors cost several times more than standard YAG, and holding R9 above 90 requires tighter deposition control, so yield per wafer drops. Violet dies are produced in far lower volume than 450 nm dies and demand a three-phosphor blend, which compounds both effects. Tight colour binning — 3 SDCM as standard, 1 SDCM on request — discards more parts again.
Nothing else in the build changes. The same FPCB stack-up, copper weight, conformal coating and cut-unit design are used across the range, so quoting a mixed scheme is straightforward.
Keeping the premium proportionate
Specify by zone. Colour-critical areas — vitrines, fitting rooms, treatment chairs, food display — take the full spectrum tape; circulation, coves and back-of-house take a Ra 90 blue-pump board. On most projects that keeps the uplift in single-digit percentages of the total lighting spend while preserving the visible result.
DENO does not impose a fixed minimum order quantity. Volumes are agreed with the sales team so the run size, reel length and binning tolerance land at the most cost-effective point for the project rather than at an arbitrary threshold.
Industry references and standards
- Metrology & laboratories — ANSI/IES TM-30 Colour Rendition Method — Rf / Rg fidelity and gamut metrics quoted throughout our spectral data.
- Museums & conservation — CIE 157: Control of Damage to Museum Objects by Optical Radiation — Exposure limits and damage factors used by museum lighting schedules.
- Metrology & laboratories — NIST Optical Radiation Measurement — Traceable photometric and spectroradiometric measurement references.
More full spectrum answers
- What is the difference between a high CRI LED strip and a full spectrum LED strip?
- Is violet-excited high CRI LED lighting better than a normal blue-chip white LED?
- Is 90 CRI enough, or do you need a 95 or 98 CRI LED strip?
- Which high density LED strip stops you seeing dots in a shallow cove?
- Are high CRI LED strips available in 24V, and do they dim without changing colour?
- Can you use a full spectrum LED strip to grow plants?