Ott-Lite VisionSaver vs. TrueColor

[Dewdrop1]

I did a search on Ott-Lite before posting this, but none of the posts address this specific question.

My daughter gave me an Ott-Lite VisionSaver desklamp for Christmas. I would have preferred the TrueColor lamp and so wrote to Ott-Lite asking them how much difference there really is and whether or not I could simply put a TrueColor tube in my particular desk lamp. Here is their reply:

"The CRI range is 90-93 and the Kelvin is 5200-5800 for all of our products. The exact CRI and Kelvin for the VS vs. TC is proprietary and I am unable to provide you with that information. The True Color tube has a primary focus on color rendering and a secondary focus on reducing glare and eye strain. The Vision Saver was developed for reading and computer use with a primary focus on reducing eye strain and glare and a secondary focus for color matching."

I'm not familiar with CRI. Does anyone know what that stands for? It looks to me as if the difference between VisionSaver and TrueColor could not be great enough to worry about. Not included in the quote above is the statement that Ott-Lite does not recommend putting a TrueColor tube in my desk lamp. They did not say why. Looking on their site, both tubes are 13W and both appear to have the same base. I can't imagine why both would not work in the same fixture unless Ott is concerned about the color of the reflector in the fixture.

Can any of the gurus in this forum shed some light on this topic? Sorry, no pun intended, but thanks for any education you can provide me.

Dewdrop

 

[Godlovesyou]

See here:

http://www.lightsofamerica.com/light-color.htm
http://www.sizes.com/units/CRI.htm
More scientific: http://www.kruschwitz.com/cri.htm

Good luck. I know someone with an Ott-Lite and I like it. Can't remember what type it was, though, but it was supposed to be daylight; my camera showed the color to actually be a little warmer.


Save our unborn: stop using Adobe products! See http://www.fightpp.org .

I did a search on Ott-Lite before posting this, but none of the
posts address this specific question.

My daughter gave me an Ott-Lite VisionSaver desklamp for Christmas.
I would have preferred the TrueColor lamp and so wrote to Ott-Lite
asking them how much difference there really is and whether or not
I could simply put a TrueColor tube in my particular desk lamp.
Here is their reply:

"The CRI range is 90-93 and the Kelvin is 5200-5800 for all of our
products. The exact CRI and Kelvin for the VS vs. TC is proprietary
and I am unable to provide you with that information. The True
Color tube has a primary focus on color rendering and a secondary
focus on reducing glare and eye strain. The Vision Saver was
developed for reading and computer use with a primary focus on
reducing eye strain and glare and a secondary focus for color
matching."

I'm not familiar with CRI. Does anyone know what that stands for?
It looks to me as if the difference between VisionSaver and
TrueColor could not be great enough to worry about. Not included
in the quote above is the statement that Ott-Lite does not
recommend putting a TrueColor tube in my desk lamp. They did not
say why. Looking on their site, both tubes are 13W and both appear
to have the same base. I can't imagine why both would not work in
the same fixture unless Ott is concerned about the color of the
reflector in the fixture.

Can any of the gurus in this forum shed some light on this topic?
Sorry, no pun intended, but thanks for any education you can
provide me.

Dewdrop

 

[Dewdrop1]

Thanks, that's more than I really needed to know, but I appreciate the links. Jeesh, is color ever complicated. Now I just need someone to tell me if they have seen a significant difference between the Ott TrueColor and VisionSaver tubes. Based on what the support person from Ott said, I doubt that the difference is worth getting concerned over unless one is looking for absolutely perfect color rendering under artifical light.

Dewdrop

http://www.lightsofamerica.com/light-color.htm
http://www.sizes.com/units/CRI.htm
More scientific: http://www.kruschwitz.com/cri.htm

Good luck. I know someone with an Ott-Lite and I like it. Can't
remember what type it was, though, but it was supposed to be
daylight; my camera showed the color to actually be a little warmer.


Save our unborn: stop using Adobe products! See http://www.fightpp.org .

I did a search on Ott-Lite before posting this, but none of the
posts address this specific question.

My daughter gave me an Ott-Lite VisionSaver desklamp for Christmas.
I would have preferred the TrueColor lamp and so wrote to Ott-Lite
asking them how much difference there really is and whether or not
I could simply put a TrueColor tube in my particular desk lamp.
Here is their reply:

"The CRI range is 90-93 and the Kelvin is 5200-5800 for all of our
products. The exact CRI and Kelvin for the VS vs. TC is proprietary
and I am unable to provide you with that information. The True
Color tube has a primary focus on color rendering and a secondary
focus on reducing glare and eye strain. The Vision Saver was
developed for reading and computer use with a primary focus on
reducing eye strain and glare and a secondary focus for color
matching."

I'm not familiar with CRI. Does anyone know what that stands for?
It looks to me as if the difference between VisionSaver and
TrueColor could not be great enough to worry about. Not included
in the quote above is the statement that Ott-Lite does not
recommend putting a TrueColor tube in my desk lamp. They did not
say why. Looking on their site, both tubes are 13W and both appear
to have the same base. I can't imagine why both would not work in
the same fixture unless Ott is concerned about the color of the
reflector in the fixture.

Can any of the gurus in this forum shed some light on this topic?
Sorry, no pun intended, but thanks for any education you can
provide me.

Dewdrop

 

[ChileVerde]

Thanks, that's more than I really needed to know, but I appreciate
the links. Jeesh, is color ever complicated.

Amen to that!

Not exactly an answer to your question, but I have an Ott-Lite True Color light. Using the GATF/RHEM light indicator patch in the back of Bruce Fraser's Real World Color Management book, the Ott-Lite True Color shows just the tiniest bit of metamerism, which would indicate that it is not quite 5000K. That said, the prints I have made and evaluated under that light have turned out quite well. Maybe that is the way to check your light. If your prints come out the way you want, don't worry too much about the actual CRI or Kelvin numbers.

Another light source I have found is the GE Sunshine, 48" fluorescent tube. It shows almost no metamerism (less than the Ott-Lite) on the GATF/RHEM patch. It claims to be a full spectrum, 2250 Lumen, 90CRI, 5000K light source. With a 20,000 hour rating, $10.00 is not too bad if the color temperature doesn't change with age. Time will tell.

 

[Heinz25]

I did a search on Ott-Lite before posting this, but none of the
posts address this specific question.

My daughter gave me an Ott-Lite VisionSaver desklamp for Christmas.
I would have preferred the TrueColor lamp and so wrote to Ott-Lite
asking them how much difference there really is and whether or not
I could simply put a TrueColor tube in my particular desk lamp.
Here is their reply:

"The CRI range is 90-93 and the Kelvin is 5200-5800 for all of our
products. The exact CRI and Kelvin for the VS vs. TC is proprietary
and I am unable to provide you with that information. The True
Color tube has a primary focus on color rendering and a secondary
focus on reducing glare and eye strain. The Vision Saver was
developed for reading and computer use with a primary focus on
reducing eye strain and glare and a secondary focus for color
matching."

I'm not familiar with CRI. Does anyone know what that stands for?
It looks to me as if the difference between VisionSaver and
TrueColor could not be great enough to worry about. Not included
in the quote above is the statement that Ott-Lite does not
recommend putting a TrueColor tube in my desk lamp. They did not
say why. Looking on their site, both tubes are 13W and both appear
to have the same base. I can't imagine why both would not work in
the same fixture unless Ott is concerned about the color of the
reflector in the fixture.

Can any of the gurus in this forum shed some light on this topic?
Sorry, no pun intended, but thanks for any education you can
provide me.

Dewdrop

--As far as I can see, nobody has answered one of your questions yet.

CRI stands for "color rendition index". Incandescent lights normally have a color rendition index of close to 100, which means that the colors look perfect.

Fluorescent lamps do not have a continuous apectrum but the line spectrum of mercury, superimposed over the emission of the phosphors on the walls of the tube. They are quite often deficient in red. Fluorecents have a great variety of CRIs, depending on the phosphor. You should have a CRI of at least 90 for viewing photographic pictures.

The color temperature is roughly the color a metal filament (or bar) emits on heating. With increasing temperature the color changes from red towards blue. It is really the temperature of a "black body radiator" (physicists' jargon) in the absolute temperature scale (K=Centigrade+273).

Normal photofloods habe about 3200K direct daylight is about 5000, northern sky is about 6500K (I think).
Aren't you glad you asked?
HeinzJ

 

[FrankMendonca]

If you're using the Ott-lite to evaluate color prints, you'll probably be disappointed. I used a couple of them for awhile and was never happy with the prints when viewed in daylight. The color temp of the Ott-lites appeared to be substantially warmer than 5000K.

For critical color evaluation, I discovered that nothing beats a viewing booth designed specifically for that application. There are some nice ones made by Just-Normlicht and by GTI...but they aren't cheap. I recently purchased the GTI SOFV-1e...and have been extremely pleased. Adorama gave me a great price and had it drop-shipped from the manufacturer.

 

[Heinz25]

If you're using the Ott-lite to evaluate color prints, you'll
probably be disappointed. I used a couple of them for awhile and
was never happy with the prints when viewed in daylight. The color
temp of the Ott-lites appeared to be substantially warmer than
5000K.

For critical color evaluation, I discovered that nothing beats a
viewing booth designed specifically for that application. There
are some nice ones made by Just-Normlicht and by GTI...but they
aren't cheap. I recently purchased the GTI SOFV-1e...and have been
extremely pleased. Adorama gave me a great price and had it
drop-shipped from the manufacturer.

--

A vieweing booth certainly is the best solution. many people do not want to spend the money or (in my case) have the room for it. You can get pretty good reults with a fluorescent table lamp, provided you have the proper tube in it. Deluxe Cool White (not normal Cool White) will do. Better are tubes like Chroma 50 (GE) Color Tone 50 (Philips) or similar tubes. These have a CRI of about 93 and a color temperature of 5000K.

I use a Solux incandescent table lamp. The Solux bulb (in the proper fixture) has a color temperature of 4700K and a CRI of 99+.
.HeinzJ

 

[John Gregg]

I started using an Ott-lite desk lamp to evaluate prints per George Lepp's suggestion. Might not be perfect but close enough IMHO.

 

[Dewdrop1]

I started using an Ott-lite desk lamp to evaluate prints per George
Lepp's suggestion. Might not be perfect but close enough IMHO.

I guess I'll stick with my VisionSaver Ott-Lite for now. It seems a bit on the bluish side, though. If I ever get a chance, I'll try a TrueColor tube in it. I can't imagine why a 13 watt TrueColor would not Work in the same fixture as the 13 Watt VisionSaver. The difference between the 2 tubes should only be the phosphors. Right? The sockets look the same on their web site.

Dewdrop