Terms of Enlightenment


Daylight - Combination of direct sunlight and skylight. Best light for optimal color rendering.


Beam Spread - Refers to the divergence angle of the light exiting the lamp. The smaller the number, the tighter and brighter the beam.


Candle Power (Candelas)- Used by lighting designers to calculate the foot-candles illuminating a surface (C.P./distance in feet squared) or Lux illuminating a surface (C.P./distance in meters squared)


Correlated Color Temperature (CCT) - Refers to the apparent color of the light source. 2800K-3200K considered "warm" 4100K-4900K considered "white" and 5000+ "cool". Comes from heating a blackbody (think of a piece of coal) up to a certain temperature, as the coal gets hotter and hotter it changes from orange (i.e. 2300K) to yellow (3000K) to white (4700K) to blue (5000K)


Color Rendering Index (CRI) - Measure of how well a light source replicates a given lighting condition. 100 being perfect, 90 fair, 80 poor.


ColorView LightBooth - is the best device on the market for observing Metamerism. ColorView technology provides a filtered tungsten halogen standardized light source with the unique feature of being quickly and easily recalibrated and provides a continuous range of color temperatures from 2856K to 6500K.


Dielectric Coatings - are microscopic layers of clear materials which alter the transmission and reflection of light through clear glass.


Foot-candles - Measurement of light output in candelas per square foot. 100 foot-candles is generally considered enough light to perform most tasks.


Infrared Radiation (I.R.) - Associated with sunburns and heat. Lower energy, long wavelength energy situated at the red end of the visible light spectrum.


Lumen - Measurement of a quantity of light as perceived by the human eye. As a light source's color temperature increases, less light is required to achieve comparable brightness and visual acuity.


Lux - Measurement of light output in candelas per square meter. 10 lux is generally considered enough light to perform most tasks.


Metamerism - is an effect created when objects having different spectral distributions look alike under one light source but appear different when viewed with a dissimilar light source.


Tungsten Halogen - Source in which an electrical current passes through a filament and uses an inert gas to recycle fragments of burnt off tungsten back to filament.


Standardized lighting - provides employees in different plant locations the ability to compare color samples under identical light sources so they can determine whether or not they have color matches.


SoLux - Patented light source which replicates the daylight spectrum without the U.V. and I.R. radiation. Utilizes a tungsten halogen source and a dielectric coating to produce daylight. CCT 4700K, CRI 99. Requires a low voltage (12 volt), 50 watt fixture. Comes in beam spreads of 12, 24, and 38 degrees. Invented in the U.S.A. by Kevin P. McGuire (kevin@solux.net)


Ultraviolet Radiation (U.V) - Associated with suntans and fading of pigments and dyes. High energy short wavelengths before the blue end of the visible light spectrum.


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Copyright © 2007 Tailored Lighting Inc.
Last modified: October 31, 2007