Just keep in mind all of the LEDs in their fixtures are dual chip, so that means each individual "light" has two led colors in it so that is maybe where you are seeing different "strains of color". As for the white intensity, I am going to put some faith in the preloaded intensities as I try and dial in my program. Many of the preloaded programs don't run the white channel (channel 1) on 100%. Orphek put many hours of R&D into these fixtures as have many reef lighting manufacturers. They have been able to test their spectrums with equipment that is not available to us the consumer. In that vain I don't believe that the pre sets are just randomly made up. I am interested to see what our LUX readings are like. It might be time to purchase one $15 on amazon may be money well spent... just a thought.The led's they seem to use look different then any others on the market, when they are on you can see strains of color around some of the led's, strange. Anyway its interested to see others are running 100% full on all channels with great results. Do believe the white channels may be key to success though everyone wants a blue tank ;-)