I`ve seen this same debate on so many lighting forums, indeed I was involved in one the other day.
4000K light at night is so much better than orange!, and this time last year we started to loose our SOX /SON for Philip`s Uni-Streets, now a year on we have 7 remaining SOX, and just 3 SON left in my entire town!
And the improvement is way better, I take our dog out at 5 each morning, and to be able to walk under 4000K of white light I can see so much better than I did under SOX lamps.
Now I know the LPS lamp allows the human eye to have a higher visual acuity, but I`m starting to question this long established fact!, for instance, a bush by a gateway can look like a person standing there under SOX light in the early morning darkness, as eveything looks dark greys and blacks, under our new LED lantens, (and their not even blinding bright ones), the same bush looks like what it is, because I can see the colour in it, I can see what it actually is!
I say this as my, somewhat antisocial German Shepard, Ash, doesn`t do random people standing in gateways early in the morning!
, and I have to cross over the road to avoid a possible confrontation!
With the new street lighting I can see so much better, (and I think Ash can also), and its a nicer place to be, being able to see the colours of the trees, grass, and hedgerows, rater than everything monochrome.
I remember the change from mercury lighting to SOX in the late 70s, it was low pressure sodium lights that got me interested in lighting in the first place, but now at 45, I have to say, I`m not sorry to see sodium lighting go!, (must be an age thing)?