Which is more useful: RGBA or RGBW?
- Thread starter Silas Pradetto
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Re: Which is more useful: RGBA or RGBW?
It really depends on what you are trying to do. RGBW will give you a truer white and the ability to do pastel colors. RGBA will make a better yellow and fleshtone. Doing mostly rock and country concerts we found that our RGB LED's were not very warm or flattering as a wash by themselves so we added a few conventionals with the fleshtones and yellows to warm it up a bit. I have not used the RGBA fixtures yet but I am going to put my vote in for them in my application because I could use the warmth and don't really care how true the white is.
It really depends on what you are trying to do. RGBW will give you a truer white and the ability to do pastel colors. RGBA will make a better yellow and fleshtone. Doing mostly rock and country concerts we found that our RGB LED's were not very warm or flattering as a wash by themselves so we added a few conventionals with the fleshtones and yellows to warm it up a bit. I have not used the RGBA fixtures yet but I am going to put my vote in for them in my application because I could use the warmth and don't really care how true the white is.
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Re: Which is more useful: RGBA or RGBW?
i asked a few rock and roll touring ldz they all said rgbw
the thearter people say rgba
rgbw:
no color is used more in concert lighting then yellow and orange combined
but the white ledz in rgbw tend to be to high a temputure for skin tonez
so rgbw best for back lighting
rgba:
best for flesh tones
the white will be a bit grainy/dritty/shadowey
rgb:
the newer rgb leds have better orange and yellows makein the amber less needed
in my lighting controler rgb works best with cym
i bought rgbw this year to mach the mac aura if i ever get um
the white led defentaly looks nicer tho not as bright as rgb at full
if i could do it agin maby i would just save the cash for audio needs or biger movers and go rgb
rgb ledz will mach the rgb spot movers of the future as far as programin goes more so
other thing to look for in ledz is not the color but how consistient it mixes and shadows
i asked a few rock and roll touring ldz they all said rgbw
the thearter people say rgba
rgbw:
no color is used more in concert lighting then yellow and orange combined
but the white ledz in rgbw tend to be to high a temputure for skin tonez
so rgbw best for back lighting
rgba:
best for flesh tones
the white will be a bit grainy/dritty/shadowey
rgb:
the newer rgb leds have better orange and yellows makein the amber less needed
in my lighting controler rgb works best with cym
i bought rgbw this year to mach the mac aura if i ever get um
the white led defentaly looks nicer tho not as bright as rgb at full
if i could do it agin maby i would just save the cash for audio needs or biger movers and go rgb
rgb ledz will mach the rgb spot movers of the future as far as programin goes more so
other thing to look for in ledz is not the color but how consistient it mixes and shadows
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Re: Which is more useful: RGBA or RGBW?
This depends heavily on the implementation.
In theory, RGBA will have a wider color gamut than RGBW, perhaps at the expense of a lower CRI white. RGBW will typically have more output on whiteish colors.
In practice, amber LEDs are much lower output than red, green, blue, or white LEDs (the exception is the phosphor-converted amber manufactured by Lumileds), making them much less useful than one would think. This, combined with a bit of time adjusting the yellow from mixing the red and green channels, reduces the importance of having an amber channel (it's possible to get a decent yellow or orange from any RGB fixture with good color mixing).
How useful RGBW is depends on the CCT of the white channel. CCTs around 3500K-4500K tend to work pretty well for color mixing, and look "white", but higher CCTs are more efficient and allow for a manufacturer to claim more output. A good white channel also offers a decent starting point for a white light wash, as well as typically having a higher CRI than an RGB only fixture (or an RGBA fixture).
Horses for courses, but I'd probably take RGBA for lighting scenery, and RGBW for lighting people. And I'd prefer RGBAW to either.
This depends heavily on the implementation.
In theory, RGBA will have a wider color gamut than RGBW, perhaps at the expense of a lower CRI white. RGBW will typically have more output on whiteish colors.
In practice, amber LEDs are much lower output than red, green, blue, or white LEDs (the exception is the phosphor-converted amber manufactured by Lumileds), making them much less useful than one would think. This, combined with a bit of time adjusting the yellow from mixing the red and green channels, reduces the importance of having an amber channel (it's possible to get a decent yellow or orange from any RGB fixture with good color mixing).
How useful RGBW is depends on the CCT of the white channel. CCTs around 3500K-4500K tend to work pretty well for color mixing, and look "white", but higher CCTs are more efficient and allow for a manufacturer to claim more output. A good white channel also offers a decent starting point for a white light wash, as well as typically having a higher CRI than an RGB only fixture (or an RGBA fixture).
Horses for courses, but I'd probably take RGBA for lighting scenery, and RGBW for lighting people. And I'd prefer RGBAW to either.
Re: Which is more useful: RGBA or RGBW?
I'd say get a 50/50 mix of them and...
RGBA for front truss for lighting faces up
RGBW for back truss for audience eye candy
I'd say get a 50/50 mix of them and...
RGBA for front truss for lighting faces up
RGBW for back truss for audience eye candy
Re: Which is more useful: RGBA or RGBW?
All my front wash is lekos, so looks like RGBW it is!
All my front wash is lekos, so looks like RGBW it is!