Understanding Tunable White - CCT Adjustable

Tunable White LED Strips lights and low voltage lighting products have an adjustable CCT or Kelvin Temperature. This means that the white output of the light can be changed and adjusted based on a temperature range of the product specifications. These light use three wires and have two different LEDs of both varying color temperatures, for example one set is 1800K and the other is 6000K. Each array of lights can be dimmed separately using a tunable white controller, two PWM dimmers or 2 channels of DMX control. When the two color temperatures are combined at different brightness levels you can create color temperatures within those ranges.

What is the Purpose of Tunable White?

Create an Array of Color Temperatures from Warm to Cool

Choose the color temperature that best suits your needs whether based on time of day or the desired setting of events. Think of light from the sun, in the morning it is warm and welcoming, as the day progresses it gets cooler and more active, then as the day winds down it once again warms and relaxes. With tunable CCT you can mimic this pattern in any setting.

Direct or Indirect Lighting
Accents for Molding & Baseboards
Decorative Lighting
Hotels, Shopping Malls, Displays
Furniture, Cabinets, Shelving

How to Control Tunable White Lighting

Dim & Mix Two Color Tones to Create One Static White Output

Tunable White LEDs are a three wire product that consist of one shared positive wire and two negative wires for their respective colors. There are dedicated dimming controls that are pretty straight forward to wire or you can use other options if you want to fine tune your dimming choices. In more advanced situations you may have to share the positive wire between tow dimmers or DMX decoders. See the image below for wiring schematics.

CCT Dimmer or Controller
2x PWM LED Dimmers
2 Channel DMX Control

CCT Controller with RF Remote CCT RF Controller

Two Dimmers with Separate Dimming CCT Two Dimmers

Two Addressable 1CH DMX Decoders CCT 1CH DMX

One 3CH DMX Decoder using 2 Outputs CCT 3CH DMX

Related Categories

Understanding RGB - Standard Color Changing

RGB stands for Red, Green, Blue and are the three additive primary colors that at different brightness and dimming levels with a scale of 0-255 you can create over 16 million color tuning choices. Unlike the primary colors you learned in grade school to mix paint or standard printing colors of CMYK, RGB is a digital format and the way light mixes and creates colors for LEDs, televisions, tablets, and anything with a colored LCD screens. An RGB Controller or 3 Channel DMX Decoder is required to dim and change the colors of your RGB LED lighting.

Understanding Color Temperature (Kelvin) - Static White

Static White LED lighting is one of our most popular color choices that we sell. It comes in an array of different color temperatures which are measured in Kelvins. Similar to a standard thermometer, the Kelvin scale basically gets warmer or cooler as the color temperature goes up and down. The color of the light output is determined by its placement on the temperature scale, warmer lighting has lower Kelvin rating while cooler temperatures have higher. LED Binning and the Importance of Color Consistency The LED binning process is the way that LED chips are sorted and chosen for use in the manufacturing process. A good binning process ensures that color temperatures will be the same each time the LED lighting is produced. Our trusted manufacturers use only the highest standards when creating our LED strips and lighting. SDCM(standard deviation of color matching) within three-step, IES60081:2010 standard, within the MacAdam eclipse which is stricter than ANSI recommendation tl stay within a four-step ellipse.

Understanding RGBW - Color Changing + Static White

RGBW stands for Red, Green, Blue and White. This type of lighting consists of standard color changing RGB lighting with the addition of a separate static white output. The static white can range in color temperature, for example RGB+W is color changing plus a cool white 6000K, RGB+NW has a 4500K neutral white, and RGB+WW has a warm white around 3000 kelvin. There is also RGBA which is more common in stage lighting which consists of color changing plus amber.

Understanding RGBCCT - Color Changing + Tunable White

RGBCCT is the latest in color changing plus white LED technology. It combines the features of traditional RGB colors with the ability of a tunable white CCT selectable static white output. Using the three colors of RGB along with both a warm and cool white output these LED lights are an all in one type light source that can be used for both color changing accent lighting or single color white task or ambience lighting depending on the time and event.