First Step Lighting Terms and Definitions To Understand the Science of Light
There are so many technical terms to know when it comes to lighting. By adopting the approach of using the right lighting at the right point as a principle, we wanted to explain the terms that should be known in order for you to reach the right lighting. For this reason, we offer you a glossary explaining the terms you may encounter in order to understand both what you can see on the site and what needs to be in the right lighting. Explanations of terms include generally agreed and accepted expressions on terms. We invite you to review the glossary to understand and discover your need for the right lighting. This dictionary, which was created for the purpose of explaining the lighting terms, is presented not in an alphabetical order, but in an order created according to the narrative style of the subject in order to understand the terms.
Lighting definition of International Commission on Illumination is (CIE - Commission Internationale de l'Éclairage); “It is applying light to objects, their surroundings and small or large areas so that they can be seen”.
There are 3 types of lighting. Natural, Artificial and Mixed Lighting.
Natural Lighting: It is the type of lighting that occurs the use of daylight from the sun.
Artificial Lighting: It is the type of lighting that occurs the use of artificial light sources.
Mixed Lighting: It is the type of lighting that comes out with the use of both daylight from the sun and light from artificial light sources.
There are 2 types of lighting forms that differ according to the place of use.
It is the illumination of interior spaces such as houses, workplaces, hotels, offices, cafes, restaurants within the building and structure.
It is the illumination of various scales outside the buildings and structures such as the illumination of outdoor spaces such as roads, squares, streets, parks, gardens, sports grounds and pools.
There are 4 types of lighting types that differ according to the type of use.
The purpose of functional lighting is to be able to see objects in shape, color and details comfortably and quickly. Different visual needs are provided with lighting in houses, schools, offices, hospitals, shopping malls and similar buildings and spaces. Lighting systems that provide visual needs are called functional lighting.
In functional lighting, it is of great importance to use the right lighting according to the characteristics of the environment in which the lighting will be used. For example; There should be enough light for customers to feel comfortable in the store, if the lighting in the store is not good, the store may look bad. In this case, it makes the product and product labels difficult to read and disturbs the customers. On the other hand, if the lighting is too bright, it can be inconvenient for customers.
The purpose of accent lighting lighting is to draw attention to soever event or object by using light. Stage lighting such as opera, theater, ballet, concert, product lighting in stores and markets are included in the accent lighting type. With accent lighting, it is aimed to draw attention to the object or area that is intended to be seen priority by using high illuminance levels and colored lights, and the type of lighting used to provide these targets is called accent lighting.
Accent lighting is an excellent way to highlight certain areas and certain products on shelves or display corners to draw the customer's attention and give customers the sense that these products are important and worth considering.
Illumination, which is except a concept general lighting, is used to define lighting for advertising purposes.
Light pollution occurs as a result of bad and wrong lighting. Light pollution is the use of light in the wrong place, at the wrong time, in the wrong amount and in the wrong direction. As a general definition, light pollution occurs when lightings are formed from wrong forms and the direction of the light overflows from the object or area to be illuminated and turns towards the sky. The easiest way to detect how much more light pollution is, is to not be able to see the stars because of the intensity of the city lights when looking at the sky at night. Especially in outdoor lighting, for example, street or park lighting cannot provide correct light distribution, and light pollution increases. Light pollution occurs when exterior lighting causes light pollution, as well as when the light from interior lights, for example, used in homes or used in shops and markets, overflows from indoor areas. At the same time, turn on the lights on for more than necessary causes light pollution and excessive energy consumption. Thus, energy loss, misuse of resources and an increase in energy consumption costs are experienced with applications that cause light pollution. It is very important to use the right lighting to prevent light pollution.
In order to prevent light pollution, the solution to ensuring the use of correct lighting is to produce lighting in accordance with the science of light, to direct the light properly to the object or area to be illuminated, and to design the lighting correctly. While providing a solution to the need for lighting, care should be taken to ensure that the light distribution is in the form and number suitable for the place to be illuminated, in order to prevent light pollution, and lighting that provides these conditions should be preferred.
After know what lighting is and for what purposes it is used, it is important to know the technical terms related to lighting in order to reach the right solution.
Expressed in volts (V), it is a measure of electric potential.
The measurement of the apparent intensity of a light source is the light flux. Light flux says nothing about the direction of the light, the intensity of the source, or the brightness of an illuminated surface, it just refers to the total visible light in all directions. It is measured in lumens.
It is important to reach the right color view at every point where lighting is needed. It is very important for the light source to show true color of the product and area in designs and product and area accents.
It is the amount of light flux per illuminated unit area. The perceived brightness of light falling on a surface illuminated by the lamp is measured in Lumens per square meter or its equivalent Lux.
Lux: 1 lumen per square meter is equivalent to 1 lux.
Surfaces appear brighter to the human eye with higher illuminance levels. Concentrated sources such as lasers, LEDs and optically focused lamps can provide intense lighting in a small area.