Color Rendering: The CNET article illustrates what many of us have known for a long time, that is, the standard Color Rendering Index (CRI) does not give the full story when it comes to color rendering. Indeed, the article states that while the Cree lamp claimed a higher CRI, the perception was that the GE lamp had better performance. The main reason is that the number of “test colors” for CRI (based on only eight pastels) is simply too low and the metric can be “gamed”. When the CNET folks used a spectrometer to look at more test colors, a more accurate color rendering capability comparison was revealed, consistent with their perception (that the GE lamp outperformed the Cree lamp).
An especially important test color to consider is “R9”, which corresponds to deep red colors which are important for human complexion, for example. Until a better, more widely accepted metric for color rendering is established, one should ask for and keep R9 in mind (>50 ok, >90 preferred) when comparing light sources for illumination.