The color rendering of RGB LEDs, however, is worse than one would expect; the wavelength gap between red and green is much larger than that between green and blue, resulting in an uneven spectral density. An orange fruit, for example, does reflect some red and it does reflect some green, but not in a ratio that the human retina interprets as orange. Neglecting to poll the orange line makes most orange objects appear reddish. RGB LEDs are therefore suitable for display purposes, but less so for illumination, which prompted some manufacterers to add a fourth, amber LED, marketing the product as RGBA LED (not to be confused with the RGBA color space) or tetrachromatic white LED. It can be expected that the number of colors will be further increased to six or more, equally-tempered wavelengths.
The second method, phosphor converted LEDs (pcLEDs) uses one short-wavelength LED (usually blue, sometimes ultraviolet) in combination with a phosphor which absorbs a portion of the blue light and emits a broader spectrum of white light. (The same mechanism—the Stokes shift—is used in a fluorescent lamp emitting white light from a UV-illuminated phosphor.) The major advantage is the low production cost. The CRI (color rendering index) value can range from less than 70 to over 90, and color temperatures in the range of 2700 K (matching incandescent lamps) up to 7000 K are available. The character of the light cannot be changed dynamically. The phosphor conversion absorbs some energy, but most of the electrical energy is still wasted as heat within the LED chip itself. The low cost and adequate performance makes this the most widely used LED technology for general lighting today.
