I agree with the
blue message above(1st page!) It is probable also, that visual preference and quality of light bulb is playing a part in this discussion.
The way to visually tell if the light you are looking at is actinic is when you look directly at actinic at around a foot away (in a combo PC cover the white or pink with something) you will see little squiggly worms crawling around on your eyeballs! No it's really true! Only true "actinic" at 420 nm will give this freaky effect.
Actinics do not look bright because our eyes don't consider 420 nm to be "bright". They are built to consider the full spectrum, though when I look at actinic up close it does indeed cause me to close my eyes and look away.
Edited by Mark Peterson