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This is also my experience. I don’t think these satellite maps are showing the true picture. They are measuring the light escaping into space. (If all the light did that we would have dark skies!) What we need to know is the light which is scattered back which depends on the wavelength and the factors Gianni mentioned. A shift in the spectrum of the light pollution from a predominantly orange to blue at the same light intensity would increase the scattering reducing what the satellite sees but making the skies brighter when viewed from the ground.
Also some LED lights which look like they are full cut off are just flat LED panels with a very wide pattern and no attempt to contain the beam. I have a neighbour a couple of hundred metres away with a very bright one of these. It is directed almost straight down so should be ok but it still overspills into my garden.
Robin