Assessment of Color Discrimination of Different Light Sources

Pedro Bustamante,Miguel Angel Campano,Ignacio Acosta,Jesús León

doi:10.3390/buildings11110527

Pedro Bustamante, Miguel Angel Campano + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings11110527

Copy DOI

Journal: Buildings	Publication Date: Nov 8, 2021
Citations: 5	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Universidad de Sevilla

Abstract

Light quality is a key parameter of building design, which is mainly defined by the perceived luminance and the color rendering. Nowadays, there is a wide variety of metrics that do not converge in the color rendition evaluation of current light sources. The obsolescence of the Color Rendering Index promoted the rise of new procedures to provide an accurate evaluation. However, the score provided by most of these metrics does not distinguish between color deviation and hue discrimination, giving a single value to assess the overall color perception allowed by a light source. In this context, a new study is proposed, based on the evaluation of seven different light sources, comparing the results of the most recent color rendering metrics and those observed using a Farnsworth–Munsell trial carried out with 115 participants. The results obtained show that there is a notable divergence between color rendition and hue discrimination, although there is a clear proportionality between both. Moreover, a clear relationship is observed between color discrimination and the correlative color temperature of light sources, providing a better hue distinction with cool light sources, even though the psychological preferences of the participants do not coincide with the optimal scenario for color discrimination.

Highlights

IntroductionThe spectral distribution of the light sources is crucial for giving a safe environment in roadways and pedestrians areas, allowing a suitable color perception and hue discrimination [9,10]
Most of the luminaires currently on the market are based on LED technology, whose lamps generate a different spectral distribution compared to the older sodium-vapor, incandescent, halogen and fluorescent lamps, producing a noticeable variation in color perception
During this analysis the Color Quality Scale (CQS) metric has proved to be an accurate tool for determining the color rendering of LED sources both phosphorous and multi-channel based [41], it does not allow an accurate determination of color discrimination in the scenarios studied

Summary

Introduction

The spectral distribution of the light sources is crucial for giving a safe environment in roadways and pedestrians areas, allowing a suitable color perception and hue discrimination [9,10]. Most of the luminaires currently on the market are based on LED technology, whose lamps generate a different spectral distribution compared to the older sodium-vapor, incandescent, halogen and fluorescent lamps, producing a noticeable variation in color perception. LED light sources are affordable and produce a higher luminous flux with a lower energy consumption compared to the previous models. This shows the need for an accurate evaluation of the effects promoted by these new lamps in the field of color rendition [12]

Objectives

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion