What is CRI?
CRI stands for Color Rendering Index, is measure of the degree to which the psychophysical colour of an object illuminated by the test illuminant conforms to that of the same object illuminated by the reference illuminant, suitable allowance having been made for the state of chromatic adaptation.
Basically…
The higher the CRI value an artificial light source has the more ‘authentic’ the color of an object appears! A light source with a CRI of 100 would be the same as natural daylight.
Case
Why is that important? Because a light source with a low CRI will distort the color of an object. The higher the CRI, the better the artificial light source is at rendering colors accurately. The lower the CRI value, the more unnatural colors appear when illuminated by the light source.
For general indoor use, a CRI value of over 80 is recommended, which you will find with all LE bulbs and lamps.
For industrial buildings or outdoor use, the CRI value is less important, a CRI value of over 70 is enough.