Emitted light spectrum determines the CRI of the lamp.

Color rendering index shown as Color Accuracy.

A color rendering index (CRI) is a quantitative measure of the ability of a light source to reveal the colors of various objects faithfully in comparison with an ideal or natural light source. Light sources with a high CRI are desirable in color-critical applications such as neonatal care and art restoration. It is defined by the International Commission on Illumination (CIE) as follows:^[1]

Color rendering: Effect of an illuminant on the color appearance of objects by conscious or subconscious comparison with their color appearance under a reference illuminant

The CRI of a light source does not indicate the apparent color of the light source; that information is given by the correlated color temperature (CCT). The CRI is determined by the light source's spectrum. The pictures on the right show the continuous spectrum of an incandescent lamp and the discrete line spectrum of a fluorescent lamp; the former lamp has the higher CRI.