"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote:

Albert Manfredi wrote:

It's not tungsten we prefer, I don't think, but rather a color
temperature that's close to that of a flame.

Err, isn't that what I wrote? It's the colour temperature that matters
rather than the source.

Well, you wrote may things, including this:

"Lighting which is used to replace daylight - like that most of us have
at home for use when daylight fades - ideally shouldn't give such a
sudden change in temperature that it is noticeable. In the same way as
lighting used to supplement daylight - like in say an office - should
also be an approximate match to that daylight. It's common sense,
really."

I do agree that if we are supplementing daylight, e.g. in work spaces
with large windows during the day, rather than providing lighting at
night, a cooler light (hotter temp) is probably preferable. But for
night time lighting, I think what we are looking for is the color of
flame.

I'm saying, it's not that we are conditioned to the color of tungsen,
it's that we are looking for something close to 2000 K at night. Much
cooler cooler light than that (higher temp) is stark and generally
unpleasant.

By the way, this also applies to xenon headlights in some cars. They are
superbly obnoxious at night, to other drivers. Even if they aren't
brighter than halogens, the bluish color is very distracting.
Fortnunately, there seem to be fewer of the really annoying ones around
these days. Maybe the auto makers got too many complaints.

Bert