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<blockquote data-quote="Rob Timmerman" data-source="post: 57234" data-attributes="member: 172">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.&nbsp; 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.&nbsp; 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&#039;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.&nbsp; CCTs around 3500K-4500K tend to work pretty well for color mixing, and look &quot;white&quot;, but higher CCTs are more efficient and allow for a manufacturer to claim more output.&nbsp; 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&#039;d probably take RGBA for lighting scenery, and RGBW for lighting people.&nbsp; And I&#039;d prefer RGBAW to either.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Rob Timmerman, post: 57234, member: 172"] 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. [/QUOTE]

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