Kelvin Question

[Dave]

I struggle to understand how/why a bulb listed as 14 K, for example, can be more on the blue side or white side depending on the manufacturer.

I thought Kelvin was supposed to be a universal measurement.

Can both a white and blue bulb truly be 14 K.

What am I missing?

 

[JRWOHLER]

I was looking at bulbs UVL, ATI, etc and on one site they gave the actual spectrum breakdown.  What I noticed is that what you are saying is true, not every bulb has exactly the same breakdown.  Some say 14K bulbs will have more red but more purple, while some are more in the blue wavelength without the high red or purple output.  My conclusion was the wavelenght is the average output, so some look more one way or the other.  Here are some examples.
UVL 12K
http://www.aquariumspecialty.com/ca...D=369&osCsid=c8ceadbc65cdffadbc199f68f0d46902
ATI 12K
http://www.aquariumspecialty.com/ca...=2171&osCsid=c8ceadbc65cdffadbc199f68f0d46902

Can check them out here.

http://www.aquariumspecialty.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=28_39&osCsid=c8ceadbc65cdffadbc199f68f0d46902

 

[Nickjr000]

Yeh it varies from bulb to bulb. One 14k might look different than another. 14k of a different brand. But they should be within a shade or 2. Plus you have to remember that a bulb takes a while to break in and show it's true color. So they might look closer after they burn in or maybe even more of a difference.

 

[Dave]

Thanks