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IES DG-1
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IES DG-1 2016 Edition, October 23, 2016 Design Guide for Color and Illumination
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Description / Abstract:
INTRODUCTION
When developing a lighting design, lighting specifiers determine the lamp and fixture combination that best suits the design’s requirements based on many factors. While some considerations are largely technical, such as power consumption, the amount of light generated, and how light is distributed, one consideration is both technical and artistic and can be approached in a number of ways. That aspect of light is color, and it is the subject of this Design Guide.
Color can be described using concrete values such as chromaticity coordinates, spectral power distribution, or others discussed later in this guide. However, one’s response to color can be much more personal and emotional—and therefore more difficult to quantify. This guide takes the reader from basic vision and color vocabulary, through methods of measuring and quantifying color, and culminates in the practical use of commercially available white light and colored lights. The definitions, metrics, and references discussed will assist in building a critical understanding of the use and application of color in lighting.
A quick review of the development of light sources1 will help illustrate today’s increased need to thoroughly understand the many aspects of color.
Long ago, humankind had two light sources— daylight and fire. For centuries, the burning of wood, wax, vegetable oils, and animal fats was used to generate light. In the early 19th century, the production of a new fuel, coal gas, was sufficiently refined to permit large-scale distribution in cities, which provided a cleaner way to produce light. In the middle of the 19th century, kerosene was developed, providing another source of light by fire.
Then, in the late 19th century, the incandescent lamp was commercialized and became widely used. Daylight, fire, and incandescent lighting are continuous-spectrum light sources. That is, each delivers some appreciable amount of light at each wavelength in the visible spectrum. Daylight varies over the course of the day and year but is generally biased toward the short-wavelength (blue) part of the visible spectrum (sunrise and sunset notwithstanding). Fire and incandescent lamps are biased toward the long-wavelength (red) part of the visible spectrum.
Discharge lamps were commercialized in the early 1930s, and by the mid-20th century, fluorescent lighting emerged as the first technology that enabled significant manipulation of a white light source’s spectrum. Designers found, for the first time, that they could select either a “warm” or “cool” white light source, based on the interior color palette and desired atmosphere in a space. The selection of the appropriate tint of white light became a component of lighting design.
Recently, huge strides have been made with solid-state lighting (SSL). Among various SSL technologies, light emitting diodes (LEDs) have become popular light sources for architectural lighting. LEDs, which, at their most basic, emit only a narrow portion of the visible spectrum, allow for the efficient production of saturated colors, as well a range of white light colors.
The understanding of the color properties of light and their applications is finding an unprecedented relevance in the lighting industry. As a result, lighting professionals are faced with an increased need for accurate quantitative and qualitative descriptions of the color related performance of all light sources. Lighting professionals need an understanding of human vision and psychology to appreciate the ways that light will affect users and their color perception. They also need a command of the vocabulary and methods used to describe and measure color. They should know the color rendering strengths and weaknesses of available lamp technologies. Finally, they are expected to have the artistic and technical ability to apply all of this information in the field in order to realize designs that meet the needs of the users, support the overall design and project goals, and use white and/or colored light appropriately and effectively.
When developing a lighting design, lighting specifiers determine the lamp and fixture combination that best suits the design’s requirements based on many factors. While some considerations are largely technical, such as power consumption, the amount of light generated, and how light is distributed, one consideration is both technical and artistic and can be approached in a number of ways. That aspect of light is color, and it is the subject of this Design Guide.
Color can be described using concrete values such as chromaticity coordinates, spectral power distribution, or others discussed later in this guide. However, one’s response to color can be much more personal and emotional—and therefore more difficult to quantify. This guide takes the reader from basic vision and color vocabulary, through methods of measuring and quantifying color, and culminates in the practical use of commercially available white light and colored lights. The definitions, metrics, and references discussed will assist in building a critical understanding of the use and application of color in lighting.
A quick review of the development of light sources1 will help illustrate today’s increased need to thoroughly understand the many aspects of color.
Long ago, humankind had two light sources— daylight and fire. For centuries, the burning of wood, wax, vegetable oils, and animal fats was used to generate light. In the early 19th century, the production of a new fuel, coal gas, was sufficiently refined to permit large-scale distribution in cities, which provided a cleaner way to produce light. In the middle of the 19th century, kerosene was developed, providing another source of light by fire.
Then, in the late 19th century, the incandescent lamp was commercialized and became widely used. Daylight, fire, and incandescent lighting are continuous-spectrum light sources. That is, each delivers some appreciable amount of light at each wavelength in the visible spectrum. Daylight varies over the course of the day and year but is generally biased toward the short-wavelength (blue) part of the visible spectrum (sunrise and sunset notwithstanding). Fire and incandescent lamps are biased toward the long-wavelength (red) part of the visible spectrum.
Discharge lamps were commercialized in the early 1930s, and by the mid-20th century, fluorescent lighting emerged as the first technology that enabled significant manipulation of a white light source’s spectrum. Designers found, for the first time, that they could select either a “warm” or “cool” white light source, based on the interior color palette and desired atmosphere in a space. The selection of the appropriate tint of white light became a component of lighting design.
Recently, huge strides have been made with solid-state lighting (SSL). Among various SSL technologies, light emitting diodes (LEDs) have become popular light sources for architectural lighting. LEDs, which, at their most basic, emit only a narrow portion of the visible spectrum, allow for the efficient production of saturated colors, as well a range of white light colors.
The understanding of the color properties of light and their applications is finding an unprecedented relevance in the lighting industry. As a result, lighting professionals are faced with an increased need for accurate quantitative and qualitative descriptions of the color related performance of all light sources. Lighting professionals need an understanding of human vision and psychology to appreciate the ways that light will affect users and their color perception. They also need a command of the vocabulary and methods used to describe and measure color. They should know the color rendering strengths and weaknesses of available lamp technologies. Finally, they are expected to have the artistic and technical ability to apply all of this information in the field in order to realize designs that meet the needs of the users, support the overall design and project goals, and use white and/or colored light appropriately and effectively.