TM-30 and Color Gamut

You may be familiar with the idea of a color gamut from displays or from RGB LED fixtures. In both cases the gamut describes the full range of colors that the device can create. In TM-30-15 IES Method for Evaluating Light Source Color Rendition gamut (Rg) has a somewhat different meaning. It refers to the average color shift of the 99 color evaluation samples (CES) under the test light source when compared to the reference light source. The reference source used in Rg is the same source used when calculating color fidelity (Rf) (as opposed to a fixed reference source as has been proposed in other gamut metrics).

A gamut index of 100 means that, on average, the test light source doesn’t change the hue or saturation of the CES compared to the reference source. An Rg above 100 indicates that the test light source, on average, increases the saturation of the CES producing colors that are more vivid. An Rg below 100 indicates that the test light source decreases the saturation of the CES producing colors that are less saturated.

The addition of a gamut index is a huge improvement over the single CRI (Ra) number that we’re used to. With Ra, every shift from a match to the reference source, whether it increases or decreases saturation, is treated equally and the direction of the shift is not reported. However, this is important information. For instance, research has shown that in many situations most people prefer a slight increase in color saturation. With Rg designers know the direction of the color shift, and the TM-30 calculation tool also shows the shift by hue and for each of the CES.

What’s the relationship between Rf and Rg? If Rf is 100 (a match to the reference source) Rg must also be 100. If the Rf calculation doesn’t indicate a mismatch with the reference source then there is no change in saturation. As the Rf value falls the potential range of Rg above and below 100 (indicating an increase or a decrease in saturation) grows. The calculation tool includes a chart that shows this relationship and gives a visual indication of where the light source in question fits.

Another graphic, the Color Distortion Icon, is plotted on the CAM02-UCS color space. In this graphic both the reference source and the test source are shown, along with an indication of the direction and magnitude of the hue shift caused by the test source. Finally, we can even look at the color shift for each of the 99 CES.

A designer using TM-30 now has three big picture metrics to evaluate a light source: color fidelity (Rf), color gamut (Rg), and correleated color temperature (CCT). The designer can use TM-30’s calculation tool to examine the Rf and Rg of a light souce in as much detail as the project merits, from a very broad overview to a very detailed, color by color, evaluation.

The one thing that TM-30 does not do is provide guidance on the significance of the values it calculates. It is a Technical Memorandum that describes two calculation proceedures, not a design guide for using the results of those proceedures. Guidance will come later in the form of a TM-30 addenda or a design guide prepared by the IES, or guides prepared by other parties. In the meantime designers can begin to build their own understanding by comparing Rf and Rg values to the their visual evaluation of the light source, and by sharing the results of their work with others.

The pubication date has not been set, but now that the TM has been approved by the IES board of directors it should be available soon. Keep an eye on the IES bookstore and on trade publications for updates. In my opinion TM-30 is a huge improvement over CRI, and I hope that the industry enthusiastically adopts it.

Note: This post was originally published on June 15, 2015 but was taken down when the IES contacted me and claimed copyright to all graphics produced by the TM-30 calculation tool. This seems to me as absurd as Adobe claiming copyright to all pictures edited in Photoshop, but I didn’t have the time to argue. I took down the original post and have reposted it here, without graphics, and edited the text to omit references to graphics.

Understanding and Applying TM-30-15

Now that the IES has approved TM-30-15 IES Method for Evaluating Light Source Color Rendition they have begun their outreach and education on this significant metric. To that end, they have joined the DOE in presenting a webinar on September 15. The webinar will be hosted by Michael Royer of PNNL and Kevin Houser of Penn State University, two of the leaders of the committee that developed TM-30. Click here to register.

A New Color Rendering Metric

At last week’s Lightfair one of the presentations was Quantifying Color Rendition: A Path Forward. The presentation was the first public look at the (not yet approved) IES Method of quantifying color rendering. What is this new (not yet approved) IES Method? Let’s start with a quick review of the current color rendering metric, Color Rendering Index (officially CIE 013.3-1995 Method of Measuring and Specifying Color Rendering Properties of Light Source) or CRI.

CRI is a fidelity metric. It compares the color rendering properties of a light source to the properties of a light source of the same color temperature, either a black body radiator for color temperatures below 5000 K, or a model of daylight for color temperatures of 5000 K and above. First issued in 1965 and last updated in 1995, CRI has several known defects. It is based on outdated color science, there are too few color samples (only eight for the general color rendering index, or Ra), and the color samples are Munsell colors, not those of real world objects.

CRI-Colors — The eight colors used to calculate the general color rendering index Ra (top) and the six special colors (bottom).

Finally, since the colors used don’t give equal weight to all wavelengths of visible light, as shown below, lamp manufacturers can optimize their lamps spectral power distribution (SPD) to achieve higher scores.

CRI Test Color Sample SPDs — “CIE CRI TCS SPDs” by Adoniscik – Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons – http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CIE_CRI_TCS_SPDs.svg#/media/File:CIE_CRI_TCS_SPDs.svg

The new calculation procedure is called TM-30 IES Method for Evaluating Light Source Color Rendition. It is, in my opinion, substantially better than CRI for several reasons. A disclosure – the Color Metrics Task Group that developed TM-30 is an offshoot of the IES Color Committee, of which I am the vice-chair.

TM-30 is a dual metric system. It provides us with a measurement of fidelity (Rf), although using a completely different method than CRI. It also provides us with a measurement of gamut (Rg). In this case, gamut means that it gives us a number that tells us if a light source that scores lower than 100 on the fidelity metric (and is therefore not a match to the reference light source) increases saturation of colors making them more vibrant, or desaturates colors making them grey or dull. This gives us a much better understanding of the color rendering performance of the light source in question. These two numbers are supplemented with a variety of graphics. These include a graphic showing the color distortion produced by the lamp, a graphic showing the change in gamut, and a graph of the Rf and Rg indexes.

It’s the color samples and calculation procedure, however, that drive this new method. Among the improvements are:

The use of 99 color samples drawn from real world objects
Color samples that are evenly distributed throughout the most accurate color space and throughout the wavelengths of visible light
It draws from a wide range of color perception research
It is based on an objective and mathematical approach

TM-30 is in the final stages of balloting. I believe that it will be approved by the end of the summer. Once it is, I’ll have more to say and graphics to explain it better. Stay tuned.

Light and Color Perception

NPR’s All Things Considered had a brief piece about light and color on Monday. The main thrust of the story was that color is not inherent in an object, but is perceived and interpreted by our brain, but there’s much more to revealing and perceiving the color of objects. Here’s a quick overview.

To begin, all objects have light reflecting properties. Objects that we identify as red reflect most of the red light that falls on them and absorb the other colors. Likewise for objects that appear to be green, blue, etc. Objects that appear to be white reflect the colors of light more or less equally, while objects that appear to be black absorb most of the light that falls on them. Objects only reflect light, they don’t create it, so if we use blue light to illuminate an object that reflects red light we find that no light is reflected and the object appears to be black.

As I explain in Chapter 8, we change the balance of the colors in white light every time we change the light source. Even with a single light technology, such as fluorescent, we change the balance of colors when we change from cool white to warm white. The color content of a light source can be measured (it’s called the spectral power distribution or SPD) and graphed as shown below.

When we change the SPD we change the colors of light that are available for reflection by objects, which means that we also change the balance of light that is reflected and thus the color information that our eyes receive. The result is that changing the light may change the color appearance, or the apparent color, of an object. Many of us have had the experience of buying clothing or paint that was one color in the store and another color at home. Here we see this phenomenon with a color/materials board illuminated by several light sources. How well a light source enables us to perceive colors is called color rendering.

Illuminated with Warm White Fluorescent Lamp

Illuminated with Cool White Fluorescent Lamp

Color and brightness perception are both relative not absolute. A candle in an otherwise dark room may seem too bright to look at directly, while its brightness on a sunny day seems insignificant. In addition to the effect of SPD on our color perception, colors are perceived in relation to one another, especially between foreground and background as shown below.

The color of the dots is the same in both figures. The strong background colors affect perception of foreground colors.

If I can demonstrate shifting our color perception why don’t we experience it in everyday life? Why are my blue jeans blue and my red car red in nearly every lighting situation? The answer is color constancy or chromatic adaptation. It does us no good to spend time and energy struggling to figure out colors. We want to be able to tell if a piece of fruit is ripe regardless of the lighting conditions. Color constancy is our brain’s use of information gathered from the entire visual field to understand the lighting conditions and calibrate our color perception so that color shifts are minimized.

Circadian Lighting

A recent article in The Wall Street Journal discussed the possibilities and benefits of lighting systems that shift color to mimic the changes in daylight. It’s a complicated subject so it’s not surprising that some of what’s reported is inaccurate, so let me clarify a few things.

First, our current understanding of how light affects our circadian rhythms is that a light activates a type of cell in the retina called intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGC). These cells, unlike rods and cones, are unrelated to vision. The signal they send to the brain is received by the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), which is the body’s hormone regulator. As the graph below illustrates, the ipRGCs are most sensitive to short wavelength (blue) light and, unlike rods and cones, are unaffected by long wavelength (red) light. (A more detailed explanation can be found in Chapter 16 of Designing With Light, and in this article from the Journal of Circadian Rhythms.)

ipRGC (black), rod (blue), and cone (red) sensitivity curves

The ipRGCs signal to the SCN, which keeps our circadian rhythms are kept in sync with the day/night cycle, seems to be affected by three factors: color balance; intensity; timing. Cool (bluish) light should be delivered at a relatively high brightness in the morning hours. Delivering cool light in the evening hours can disrupt sleep and other processes controlled by the SCN.

Next, there’s nothing special about LED lighting that makes it uniquely appropriate for this application. Fluorescent, HID, and incandescent light (adjusted with color filters) can all be used to create a system that delivers cool light in the morning and warm light in the evening. In all cases, this involves the use of light sources of several tints (warm, cool, and possibly neutral) that are individually controlled. The WSJ is completely wrong when it says “unlike incandescent or fluorescent lights, LED lights’ materials and electronic components allow for finer adjustments of color, brightness and intensity.” A single LED creates light of a single color. To shift colors a second LED is required. Brightness and intensity are the same thing. With LEDs set to surpass sales of all other light sources within the next several years, research involving sources other than LED is nearly non-existent. Naturally, researchers are using LEDs to test theories and to develop demonstrations and products.

Finally, it would be helpful if the WSJ had defined two terms – color temperature and CRI (Color Rendering Index). Both are explained in Chapter 8. Color rendering and CRI are briefly explained in this post. CRI and color temperature are both addressed in this post.

Basking in a New Glow

The New York times has an “I Heart LEDs” article in today’s paper that leaves out some important information about evaluating them. Here are some additional thoughts.

The government hasn’t done a very good job of publicizing or explaining that the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) set minimum efficiency requirements for general use light bulbs (the act excluded decorative and colored products). The incandescent lamp that’s been around for over 100 years doesn’t meet the energy efficiency standard. Rather than re-engineer incandescent lamps, the lamp manufacturers have focused on expanding and emphasizing compact fluorescent (CFL) and light emitting diode (LED) technologies. Again, you can still purchase 40 – 100 watt decorative incandescent lamps but not A-lamps, the most common shape in use.

The easiest substitution, one that requires no thinking about rewiring, dimming, etc., is the halogen lamp. Halogen lamps are an improvement on standard incandescent lamps, and many of them meet the EISA energy efficiency requirements.

If you’re looking for higher energy efficiency, and are willing to pay a higher price up front to get it, CFL and LED lamps are available in a wide range of wattages and shapes. However, they need to be approached with caution. Both technologies can be difficult to dim, especially with older dimmers that were designed with incandescent lamps in mind, so your existing dimmers may need to be replaced. They can also produce unsatisfactory tints of white light. LEDs are especially notorious for not matching the information provided on the packaging, as demonstrated through the Department of Energy’s CALiPER program.

Here’s what to look for. Every light bulb package should have a Lighting Facts Label that looks like this.

The orange/yellow/white/blue color bar is where you’ll find information about the warmth or coolness of the light, both with an arrow on the color bar and with a number. The number is called the Color Temperature (actually the correlated color temperature) and measures the warmth or coolness in Kelvin. The important thing to know is that a lower number (2700 to 3000 K) is roughly equal to an incandescent light bulb. As the number gets higher the light gets cooler.

Warmth/coolness isn’t the only measurement of the quality of light. Another consideration is how well the light source allows us to see the colors of objects. This is called Color Rendering (Color Accuracy on the Lighting Facts Label) and is indicated by a Color Rendering Index number. Higher numbers (with a maximum of 100) indicate better color rendering, so a light with a Color Accuracy of 95 should be visibly better than one of 80.

The Color Rendering Index is not very specific, however, and is known to misrepresent LEDs. Therefore you are the best, final test of whether or not a given light bulb is appropriate. I recommend purchasing only one or two and trying them out for a few days before committing to changing over your entire house.

My other recommendation is to stick with the major manufacturers (GE, Philips, Sylvania) for most lamps that you test. These companies have a track record of product consistency and quality that many of the newer manufacturers don’t. I can almost guarantee that with an off-brand 5-pack of lamps for $10 you’ll get what you pay for and hate the results. It’s not the technology that you’ll hate, but the manufacturer’s poor execution of the technology.

I hope this helps.

The Best Light?

In class yesterday one of my students, thinking about a project she had recently completed, asked, “What’s the best light for a hair salon?” I’m certain she was hoping I would tell her exactly what lamp technology and/or lamp style to use. Of course, it’s not that simple.

So the class took a detour to talk about the important aspects of light in a hair salon. We narrowed it down to two critical considerations – intensity and color rendering. Intensity is important because the stylist needs to be able to see the details of a head of black hair as well as a head of blonde hair. Intensity is relatively easy to achieve, and the designer has a wide range of lamp technologies, lamp shapes, and fixture types to choose from. Finally, everyone intuitively understands how intensity affects vision. If there’s not enough light one can’t see well enough to work.

Color Rendering is more complicated. All of my students had heard of color rendering, but few of them understood its meaning or use. Color rendering is the ability of a light source to enable us to see object colors. For instance, a light source that produced no red light would do a terrible job of allowing us to judge red apples and we would say it has poor color rendering. Color rendering is measured on the Color Rendering Index (CRI) which compares the light source being tested to incandescent light (for warm light) or to daylight (for cool light). The higher the result, on a range that peaks at 100, the more a light source simulates incandescent or daylight in enabling us to see the colors of illuminated objects.

The best light source, then, is one that produces the desired intensity and has a high CRI. Of course, there’s much, much more to color rendering and to the topic of color in light. The color chapter in Designing Light is about 40 pages, and the IES DG-1 Color and Illumination looks like it will be about 100 pages. It’s critical that lighting designers understand color because it has such a strong affect on people. Color rendering is just one aspect. Color also affects things such as our impressions and perception of a space, circadian rhythms, visual acuity, and the interior designer’s color palette. Those are topics for another post.