Difference between clear/frosty incandescent light bulbs

In another topic the question popped up whether you would need a clear incandescent light bulb, when only frosted ones are locally available. I managed to find two 25W good old incandescent light bulbs in our house, of which one was clear, the other one frosty.

Here are their spectrum plots:
First the clear incandescent light bulb


Then the frosted incandescent light bulb

And, for you number crunchers, here are more data:
The clear bulb:

Suggested EV @ ISO100 for 1943.5 Lux incident light = 9.6
Closest Planckian temperature = 2638K (DE2K 1.7)
Closest Daylight temperature = 2500K (DE2K 2.5)
Color Rendering Index (Ra) = 99.2 [ R9 = 99.0 ]
R1 = 99.1 R2 = 99.3 R3 = 99.6 R4 = 99.0 R5 = 98.9 R6 = 98.8 R7 = 99.7
R8 = 99.6 R9 = 99.0 R10 = 98.5 R11 = 98.6 R12 = 97.9 R13 = 98.9 R14 = 99.8
Television Lighting Consistency Index 2012 (Qa) = 100.0

The frosted bulb:

Suggested EV @ ISO100 for 1707.7 Lux incident light = 9.4
Closest Planckian temperature = 2576K (DE2K 1.9)
Closest Daylight temperature = 2500K (DE2K 5.3)
Color Rendering Index (Ra) = 99.2 [ R9 = 98.9 ]
R1 = 99.0 R2 = 99.2 R3 = 99.5 R4 = 98.9 R5 = 98.9 R6 = 98.7 R7 = 99.7
R8 = 99.6 R9 = 98.9 R10 = 98.3 R11 = 98.5 R12 = 97.7 R13 = 98.9 R14 = 99.7
Television Lighting Consistency Index 2012 (Qa) = 100.0

Verdict: close enough for everyday use, don’t you agree? However, look at the R9 values. The clear bulb handles the difficult dark red patch a trifle better.

Have fun!
Claes in Lund, Sweden

1 Like

Question: does frosted include coated as in soft whites, etc.? I have seen frosted ones as in frosted glass. In any case, the coating can vary in evenness and quality; not all bulbs are made the same. As for clear bulbs, I happen to still see some at my local big box stores. And there is a lighting specialty store 15 min away that would likely have more varieties.

I think this is likely the primary reason for using only clear bulbs - there’s a significant risk that a cheap frosted bulb may not be as neutral as the one @Claes measured.

Side note - I’m considering getting a spectrophotometer, as far as I can tell, the i1studio looks like it’s a rebrand of the ColorMunki Photo?

Frosted bulbs are etched, not coated. I’m not sure what “soft white” refers to in the context of incandescents.

Thanks. Wanted clarification because I have a coated panel that imitates frosted glass.