Low color rendering index (CRI) is often the culprit. Quality LEDs absolutely exist, one must simply do a bit of research in enthusiast forums.
https://budgetlightforum.com/c/other-light-types/led-light-b...
I bought about 20 halogen ceiling lights for my housei last year when we remodelled. The electrician installing them could not understand why I didn't go for LED. I mumbled something about CRI and R9, but it seemed to just confused him more.
Best decision ever. The lights are dimmable and they have such a beautiful glow. It's so noticeable that guests comment.
I also now buy halogen on sight from the hardware store and stockpile, as their days are surely numbered.
I doubt that is the reason I tend to hate being subjected to bright LED lights for more than about 20 minutes a day.
Most agree that the light from most LED light bulbs (i.e., having a pronounced spike in intensity in the blue wavelengths) is bad for you in the evening and in the night time, but I'm saying I don't even like it in the morning if my exposure is too long (and when I'm having a bady day "too long" might be as short as 10 minutes).
CRI should actually somewhat capture that. If your spectrum looks drastically different from daylight, it will affect color reproduction.
https://www.crslight.com/images/kelvin_cri_comparison_chart....
CRI cannot be the issue with GGGP because he writes that LEDs "are still awful compared to incandescent bulbs" and we know that incandescents (being very low in the blue part of the spectrum compared to its output in the orange and the red) have worse CRI than even the crappy LED bulbs.
CRI is also not why I dislike most LED light bulbs either.
very happy with my waveform lighting LED bulbs:
https://store.waveformlighting.com/products/superwarm-1700k-...
