The market is saturated with marketing and media promoting BRIGHT WHITE like DAYLIGHT and other taglines re 5000K etc as being the be all and end all of driving light design.
A response we posted today on Facebook to this very question re two very prominent brands promoting this as gospel.
Our reply...
"No Matt we haven't directly compared against those two brands but is worth looking at basic specifications of the light sources. Be aware of LED RAW lumens versus effective. RAW is often an extrapolated burst mode and can be exaggerated by as much as 50% over EFFECTIVE lumens. FYRLYT is 5000 and 9000 effective lumens per light.
The next measure is the kelvin rating. The LEDs you quote are typically 5000K or more. This is where FYRLYT will state the light produced whilst appearing bright and white is actually not ideal and is problematic. We detail this on our website and use the American Medical Association report on high K LED street lighting as an example. We have had several ophthalmologists contact us and buy FYRLYT commenting at last someone gets it. One specific effect and limitation that no LED brand or salesperson will talk about is the Tyndall effect of light back scattering in dust or moisture laden atmosphere. This is an accepted scientific fact that has existed for a very long time yet now conveniently forgotten it seems. Would be remiss to forget the difference in optical design of FYRLYT using a single light souce and a reflector specifically tuned to it. LED array type design can by its nature be arranged to produce close peripheral lighting BUT this can be counter productive in it being irrelevant at speed and causing the eye pupil to be constricted with foreground glare. The effect is your eye is not focussed and receiving information in the zone of where you have reaction time to avoid hazards. It is very easy to buy a bright white light these days. A light that may indeed initially impress but mid long term begins to disappoint. Indeed this is where many FYRLYT customers have come from. As you'd realise two very different design approaches focused on achieving the same solution.
There is a LOT more to cover this in detail which we would say most brands and salespeople cannot or are not able to. FYRLYT is unique in its transparency and sharing facts you can verify independently.
Feel free to contact us and discuss direct with our designers, Paul and David."