# K scale comparison



## Marcom1234 (Aug 16, 2006)

does anyone have a few pics showing the difference betwen the popular k degrees? like a pic of 6500, 6700 8000 10000?
so one can compare the differances? i have two pics, one of a 50/50 bulb and one of a coralife colormax/6700 bulb. that i now see i will have to make the picture smaller.....

first is colormax/6700...... second is 50/50 bulb


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## erik Loza (Feb 6, 2006)

I don't know if it would help you much. The quality of light output between MH's and fluorescents, for example, is so different that even if both were rated that the same color-temp, they could look totally different. 

For example, I have 8,000K MH's over my big plant tank, and the tank looks the same as if I have Coralife 6,700K PC's over it. I have some generic PC lamps that say "12,000K", yet they look no different to me than the Coralife 10,000K's. And, my German Hit-Lite 10,000K HQI bulbs produce a much more green-blue light than those 10,000K Coralife's. 

To go one step further, I have 4,300K HID lamps in my car, and they look just like the 8,000K ADA HQI's I run on the big tank. Yet, I'm a photographer and can tell you that xenon flash tubes in all our hotshoe-mounted flashes are rated at 5,500K, which produces the most natural color rendition on film/ digital media. So, who is right? Probably nobody! I think that much of the problem is that there is no standardized means of comparing bulbs. You pretty much have to take the manufacturer's word for the bulb is supposed to do. 

In the end, I use pretty much all the above bulbs in aquarium/ terrarium or another and they all grow nice plants. I would just say, shoot for the most daylight-looking you can find and that's the best we can all hope for. Is there a particular situation you're trying to resolve?


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

Photos don't even come close to demonstrating the differences between bulbs with different color temperatures. The colors a photo show depend on the camera, the photo handling software, the exposure used, etc. I agree with Erik, that you just have to use the K number as a general guide, and use bulbs that make the tank look like you want it too.


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## Marcom1234 (Aug 16, 2006)

no real issue im trying to resolve except not wanting to spend 40 bucks a pop just to see what .... in general.... it's gonna look like in a tank.

i understand all the things you guys are saying but i would think that " in general" most 6700k bulbs will look " similar" at least.i know not all 6700 will look the same 'specially if taking pics with different cameras and such...

but i figured it wold be close enough to get a general idea of what color its gonna kinda look like....and i understand that higher numbers tend to be " bluer" or whatever i was just hoping to have a visual representation..... don't need exact color swatches of each kelvin degree.


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## longlywalker (Nov 7, 2005)

Hi,

take a look at here:
Valotesti

Hope this may help.


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## Marcom1234 (Aug 16, 2006)

hey !!! yes thats exactly what i have been looking for .... if i could rub the genie i would ask for actual " kelvin ratings" with the different bulbs but i guess i can do the rest of the leg work  thanks alot ! 

much appreciated


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## ruki (Jul 4, 2006)

re: valotest site
That's a somewhat useful comparison since I assume that the same camera and ame monitor will be used for the comparison. But, as others have noted that your eyes will likely see things somewhat differently.

Also note that not all the tubes in the comparison have K ratings since it doesn't make sense from their spectrums. And different branded tubes with the same K rating will not necessarily give identical results.

Also, it's non-trivial to figure out exactly what bulb is in the picture. Example, Google gave me "Your search - Osram WDLHQI - did not match any documents".


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