The Quest For Color Efficiency

Session details:

There's only one reason why LED technology has taken hold in all lighting segments over the last decade: the quest for greater efficiency. Energy efficiency, yes, but also efficiency in terms of workflow, in the implementation of long-term solutions, and in the manufacturing of modular and scalable systems.

This issue isn't new. Throughout the history of our 100+ year old industry, we've already seen discharge lamps overcoming tungsten despite being far inferior in terms of color rendering, dimming, or optical management. It happened with the "arc" moving heads on stage, and it happened with all the film Fresnels replaced by open-face HMIs.

In recent years, we've seen LED technology branch out between blue LED sources converted to white and additive LED sources with at least red, green, and blue wavelengths. Later, we've seen attempts from laser technology to increase illuminance performance over long throws - LEDs with higher output performance but somehow the same power consumption.

Today, we see how the vast majority of LED luminaires opt for an additive color mixing with greater or lesser color rendering and a better or worse light spectrum, but we still haven't solved the major problem in terms of colorimetry: with each new diode we add in a different spectrum band, we increase consumption and, as a direct consequence, we add size and weight due to the thermal management needs.

This talk will discuss the importance of standardizing a type of LED source that, while capable of emitting a rich and faithful spectrum and also pure, deep colors that are sufficiently saturated and contrasted, is also capable of reduced power consumption, size, and weight, significantly impacting logistics costs, the need for additional personnel, and energy sustainability issues such as the use of batteries or more efficient systems.

The thesis of the talk argues that this wavelength balance already exists, and that its standardization is widely accepted not only in the entertainment industry (consistent warm tones, high light output at any color temperature, etc.) but also in the world of film and television (faithful skin tones, detailed color reproduction, etc.).

Now it's up to the major industry players to decide whether we've finally found the right combination of color, consumption, light output, and application — or, in other words, whether we're willing to accept a very simple fact: "five colors are enough". If we manage to achieve this, we'll be moving toward the sole reason for the triumph of LED, and pretty much any other dominant electric lighting source: a more efficient working environment, with a higher return on investment, and a much more understandable operational space for the end user.