DENO LED Lighting

What is CRI on an LED strip test report, and how do I read Rf, Rg and duv?

CRI in LED lights is the average score of eight pastel test colours against a reference source, so it says nothing about deep red on its own — that is R9, and a board can average Ra 90 with an R9 of 20. TM-30 replaces the average with 99 samples and reports Rf for fidelity and Rg for gamut; DENO full spectrum tape typically measures Rf 93 with Rg near 100. Finally check duv, which shows whether the white sits green or pink of the blackbody locus; DENO holds it inside +/-0.003.

Rf, Rg and the vector graphic

Rf replaces Ra with 99 colour evaluation samples spanning real materials rather than eight pastels, so it is much harder to game. Rg reports whether the source expands or compresses saturation: below 95 colours look washed out, above 105 they look artificially vivid, which some suppliers market as 'vibrant'. The vector graphic is the honest picture — it shows exactly which hue bins are distorted and by how much.

Alongside TM-30, each DENO lot ships an SPD file at 5 nm resolution. Plotting it reveals what no index can: the height of the pump spike, the depth of the 480–500 nm cyan region, and the length of the deep-red tail past 650 nm.

Claims worth checking

Three patterns come up repeatedly in datasheets. A high Ra with no R9 figure usually hides a weak red tail. A CRI value quoted without a CCT is meaningless, because rendering changes across the range. And an efficacy figure quoted at 50% drive current will not be reproduced in the installation.

Ask for the measured report on the actual production lot rather than a reference sample. DENO supplies it by default, including per-reel binning data where 1-SDCM consistency has been specified.

Industry references and standards

More full spectrum answers