they have been installing various LEDs around ATL for a little while now, and most of them look weird. they are way too bright and are in the 3500K range.

i'm wondering if the LEDs going up elsewhere have a better colour temperature, around 4500K or 5000K, or if most of them going up now are in the weird yellow range like they are here.

what i would like to see is a return to what the night used to look like in the 80s and before, with a cool white colour similar to mercury vapour lights; it looks more like moonlight, and it would be nice to have the night back from the HPS lights, which i hate.

i have seen a couple of LEDs that meet this description, but most seem to be weird coloured and glary. what do they look like around you?

Where I am, what few LED street lights we have are around 6500k in color - indeed a nice simulation of MV. The problem is, light output is very low compared to the HPS units they replaced, and they shine directly downward, so you get a small circle of light on the road, and everywhere outside that is dark.

The few I've seen around here are about 4000-5000K.

4000k-5000k here and it is much too white.  I hate it.  hurts the eyes. 

Here the new LED lanterns almost all look like this one. They are about 5000-6000K and look much like dimmed-out MH. They are full cutoff, and the circle of light they produce is very narrow, the beam of two adjacent fittings don't reach so you get dark spots. They appear quite dim.

On the highways, I liked the lensed SOX. You could see them in the distance and know where the exit and entrance ramps were before getting there. Now with the LED, you don't see the light in the distance so it is less convenient. Not only the SOX provided roadway lighting per se, but they also served as beacons to warn motorists of an approaching highway exit. Thanks to the modernisation mandated by the government, we no longer have that feature.

I should also note that all HPS/MV roadway lighting is no longer relamped. When either ballast, lamp or PC fails, the entire assembly, often the arm as well, is replaced with LED.

Around here it's mainly 5000K-ish induction and sometimes LEDs which does indeed give the nighttime mood of the MV days IMO.

my 2 ge wall mount 100w mv fixtures are going led.
they were retired as the buzzing was too much.
will be 5600k with 2 altilons in each.
these are potmetal and will have cpu heatsinks on top.
i didnt toss the ballasts as they still work.just too noisy.
will post pics of the mod.