Nanlite PavoTube ii 15x RGB Led Tube Light- Lab-Review

Nanlite Pavotube II 15X – Technical Analysis

The Nanlite Pavotube II 15X is a 35 W tube light for accents, backgrounds and practical effects. The measurements cover white light from 2700K to 6500K at a distance of 1 m without modifiers, across a total of 9 individual measurements.

Scores and lab report based on the current version of our evaluation (October 2026). As there is no reflector for this tube, the power score is based on the bare output.

🔍 Key Measurements (White Light, 100%, 1 m)

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🔎 Performance Analysis

💡 Light Output

At a distance of 1 m, the Pavotube delivers 310 to 347 lux (EV 7.0 to 7.1), clearly an accent light. In return, output is very even: between the darkest setting (2700K) and the brightest (6500K), there are only about 11%, which makes it easy to combine several tubes.

Dimming is almost perfectly linear, and the colour temperature stays stable:

Between 10% and 100%, the CCT changes by only about 3 MK-1 at both settings, so brightness can be adjusted without visibly changing the colour.

Standout Features:

• ✅ Very even output across CCTs: 310 to 347 lux, about 11% spread
• ✅ Linear dimming: 10% power ≈ 10.5% light, 50% ≈ 49–51%
• ✅ Colour-stable dimming: about 3 MK-1 between 10% and 100%
• ⚠️ Low absolute output: accent and background light, not a key light

🎨 Colour Rendering (White Light)

With a colour score of 85.0, the Pavotube is one of the best in this discipline. CRI (Ra) ranges from 96.3 to 97.4, and R9 stays at 94 to 98 at every colour temperature, even 98 at 5500K. R9 remains high at low dimming levels too (96 to 98 at 10%). TLCI (for information) reaches 97 to 98.

TM-30 Rf lies between 93 and 95, with Rg between 99 and 103. The SSI is 87 at 2700K and 83 at 3200K, and drops to 72 at 5500K and 68 at 6500K, a typical pattern for bi-colour engines.

Standout Features:

• ✅ High colour score: 85.0
• ✅ Consistently high R9: 94–98, also at low dimming levels
• ✅ Good SSI at warm CCTs: 87 at 2700K, 83 at 3200K
• ⚠️ Daylight SSI moderate: 72 at 5500K, 68 at 6500K

🧪 TM-30 in Detail

TM-30 divides colours into 16 hue bins. The local chroma shift (Rcs) shows whether a hue is rendered more or less saturated than under the reference light, the local fidelity (Rf,h) how accurately it is rendered overall. Shifts of a few percent are barely visible; from around 10%, the affected hues look noticeably more intense or duller.

The Pavotube shows a clean, well-balanced profile. At 3200K, all hue bins stay within ±5%, and only 8 of the 99 colour samples fall below Rf 90. At 2700K, yellow-orange and yellow are desaturated by 5 to 6%, and 18 samples fall below Rf 90, so warm golden tones look slightly duller there.

In daylight, the typical oversaturation of purple (+7% at 5500K) and violet (+10% at 6500K) appears, but remarkably, fidelity in the cyan-blue range stays at 91 to 93, which is better than with most phosphor LEDs. At 5500K, only 10 colour samples fall below Rf 90, and the weakest still reaches 75.

Skin tones in the orange-red and orange bins (2 and 3) are rendered very consistently: at every colour temperature, they reach Rf,h 94 to 98 with saturation shifts of at most ±1%.

The spectrum peaks at 631–635 nm in the warm settings and at 448–449 nm (blue pump) in the daylight settings.

Standout Features:

• ✅ Balanced at 3200K: all hue bins within ±5%, only 8 samples below Rf 90
• ✅ Cleaner daylight than usual: cyan-blue Rf,h 91–93
• ✅ Skin tones very stable: bins 2/3 at Rf,h 94–98
• ⚠️ Yellows muted at 2700K: -5 to -6%

🌡️ CCT Accuracy

The deviation in Mired (MK-1) is more meaningful than the raw Kelvin difference, since the Kelvin scale is not linear:

The warm settings are very precise at 1.64 and 2.42 MK-1. The daylight settings are slightly cooler than set (7.45 and 7.88 MK-1), but stay below the threshold of around 10 MK-1 at which a shift becomes perceptible.

Duv is slightly positive at every colour temperature (+0.0012 to +0.0018), meaning a very slight green tendency that is barely visible in practice. At 5500K, the white point is particularly tight; the measured colour distance to the target white stays low there across the dimming range.

Standout Features:

• ✅ Excellent at 2700K and 3200K: 1.64 and 2.42 MK-1
• ✅ Daylight below the threshold: 7.45 and 7.88 MK-1
• ✅ Consistent, minimal tint: Duv +0.0012 to +0.0018

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✅ Strengths

1. Very high colour score → 85.0, Ra 96.3–97.4, R9 94–98 at every CCT
2. Very precise warm settings → 1.64 MK-1 at 2700K, 2.42 MK-1 at 3200K, SSI 87 and 83
3. Linear, colour-stable dimming → 10% power ≈ 10.5% light, about 3 MK-1 CCT change
4. Very even output across CCTs → 310 to 347 lux, ideal for multi-tube setups
5. Clean TM-30 profile → Skin tones at Rf,h 94–98, cyan-blue Rf,h 91–93 in daylight

⚠️ Weaknesses

1. Low output → About 340 lux at 1 m, accent light rather than key light
2. Daylight slightly cool → 5,735 K and 6,851 K (7.45 and 7.88 MK-1)
3. Daylight SSI moderate → 72 at 5500K, 68 at 6500K
4. Warm yellows muted at 2700K → -5 to -6% saturation, 18 samples below Rf 90
5. Slight green tendency → Duv +0.0012 to +0.0018 at every CCT

📉 Practical Applications

Ideal for: → Studio accent lighting: backdrops, kickers, practicals → Tungsten-balanced scenes: very precise 2700K and 3200K → Product and portrait work as edge or fill light: R9 up to 98, stable skin tones → Multi-tube setups: even output and colour-stable dimming

Use with caution: → Large-area key lighting: output too low → Spectrally critical daylight work: SSI 68–72 → Warm golden looks at 2700K: yellows lose some saturation

📌 Conclusion

The Nanlite Pavotube II 15X is a colour-accurate, studio-grade tube light. Its high colour score, consistently high R9, linear dimming and very precise warm settings make it ideal for accent, background and edge lighting.

The detailed analysis confirms a clean profile: skin tones stay stable at every colour temperature, and the daylight settings are cleaner in the cyan-blue range than with many competitors. The limits are the low output of around 340 lux, slightly cool daylight settings and a moderate daylight SSI. For creators who prioritise skin-tone accuracy and creative control over raw output, the Pavotube is a very good choice for interviews, music videos and controlled environments.

Data Overview

📥 PDF herunterladen

TM-30-18

TM-30 Multi Report

TM-30 Comparison

Multiple Measurements in Direct Comparison

Report selection by CCT

All loaded reports are sorted by CCT automatically. The slider snaps to the nearest report.

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Color Vector Graphic

Reference and test as closed 16-bin curves.

Click a CES cell to view vector and detail values.

Normalized Spectral Power Distribution

TM-30 Dashboard

Local shifts and radial visualization as in the standard report.

Local Chroma Shift (Rcs,hj)

Local Hue Shift (Rhs,hj)

Local Color Fidelity (Rf,hj)

Click one of the three local titles to see a short explanation of meaning and visual impact.

Color Sample Fidelity (Rf,CESi)

Direct overview of all 99 CES samples with fidelity values.

Measure Comparisons

Additional comparison view analogous to the TM-30 reference representation.

Color Evaluation Samples

Highlighted skin-tone areas provide practical orientation for portrait colors. Click to zoom.

Click a CES cell to view the comparison in the popup.

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