Tuning to the colour of LED
Singapore, 4th November 2014
I came back from Hong Kong with a nice little tool in my back, a mobile colour spectrometer. I had wanted to get one for a long time specifically with my constant frustration in regards to colour inconsistency in LEDs…yes the Cowboys…I was put into contact with Asensetek, a Taiwanese producer of a new generation of a smart colour spectrum meter. The meter, called Lighting Passport, is a small little unit that can be used as a stand-alone or attached to your mobile phone. It uses the latest blue tooth technology to communicate and measures and displays the result via an app that you can download from the web. It is available for IOS and Android platform as well as for Windows/ Apple PC’s.
The advanced professional version that I bought reads the exact colour temperature, colour rendering R1-15 individually and as an average, spectral energy distribution and points out the measured location on the CIE 1931 and CIE 1976 colour diagram’s black body line including its location within the relevant McAdams ellipses. I can now instantly check out suppliers claims in regards to colour and I did so when IGuzzini came to present their latest colour tuneable Reflex down light (a great light by the way).
The claim of 2700K was proven right with a measurement of 2689K, very close! The colour rendering of 95 was bettered with an Ra of 97 (R1-8) and an average Re of 96 (R1-15) with only one of the colours dipping under the 90 (R12 at 87). Interesting reading! The location was practically right on the black body line and a binning between 1 and 3 IEC_SDCM (Mc Adams)! Impressive! I did the same readings again for the cool white at 5700K and the results were similar. This was done of course with a reputable manufacturer. I can’t wait to test it on one of the LED Cowboys!
The main feature is its mobility. I can hook it to my Samsung Galaxy Note 3, take a picture of the fitting in question and measure all its colour characteristics on the spot. No longer do I have to endure discussions about whether it actually is 2700K or not! I can now measure and compare the results of two light sources that are supposed to be identical in colour and provide hard evidence of the actual facts…be warned, no more bull@#$%ting! 🙂
Light Watch 5-187: Some impressions of the Lighting Passport and its Spectrum Genius program (see also the website at www.asensetek.com) Cool!
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