Ideal lighting for digital studio?

My question concerns the optimal (if there is such a thing)

quantity and color temperature of a room for viewing images and

graphics on a calibrated monitor. Background: I am working

with a local university who has recieved a rather substantial

grant to set up a high end imaging lab. Hardware and software

decisions have already been made as well as both digital still

and digital video cameras for check out. We are now working on

the physical space. It will be used by students who will need to

refer to their notes and other research materials while actually

sitting at an imaging station. (In other words...a darkened room

is out of the question.) I realize that the color of walls, flooring,

furniture and all of the other physical properties of the room can

and will affect ones color perception while viewing a computer

monitor. My question is concerning levels of illumination (we

intend to have track lighting on dimmer switches), and color

temperature of the lamps that the track lights will house. Any info

you may have or suggestions for places find this type of

information would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance for your time,

Scott

Hi JSS,

Track lighting is about as poor a choice as you could make for several reasons. Overhead track lights will be hard (or impossible), to find good color index rated bulbs for. Tracklights no matter how well laid out will cause shadows, glare and surface screen glare for someone in the room. Look for clamp on or weighted desktop lamps with high color index rated bulbs with low output levels and deep hoods or lamp shades. You should also see if the manufacture of your CRT monitors (you are using CRT's aren't you? LCD's while convenient have too many problems to offer the best possible image quality), offers fitted hoods for the selected monitor. Failing that you can always get good deep hoods from HoodMan.

HTH

Chip,

Can you further define "good" when you said "good color index

rated bulbs". What is a "good color index rated bulbs" in terms of

color temperature? Is it the closer to "daylight balanced" the

better with "daylight balanced" being the optimal situation?

Thanks

The two right people to ask are Bruce Fraser and Andrew (AKA "the digital

dog). You can reach either of them of them through

digitaldog.imagingrevue.com Digitaldog.net or

www.imagingrevue.com www.imagingrevue.com

Bruce is

the author of Real World Color Management and co-author of the "Real world Adobe

Photoshop" series of books. I very rarely make flat and unambiguous statements but

here is one: There is no one else , including inside Adobe, who knows the ins and

outs of high end digital color and color workflow and setting up these enviroments

more thoroughly than

www.creativepro.com/author/home/40.html Bruce Fraser. he

is fluent in both technical jargon and and plain English. Andrew is a color

consultant who knows almost as much as Bruce but comes at the problem from a

different angle.

Hi Scott,

The actual lightinng set up depends in the seating configuration. However, this is what I see at some pro-shops and labs:

- Use full spectrum neon lights at perimeter walls or directly above/behind the monitors for basic lighting. The neon tubes should be installed to be an indirect light source. A diffused light source provide better viewing of both the CRT and printed materials. The full spectrum neon light generates less heat (which is great for computer lab), has the correct light spectrum, and being used by many professional graphic srevice providers.

- Use a monitor visor to cut glare and preserve the CRT's contrast/luminance.

- Install a print viewing box with a color corrected light source or an OTT light at the workstation. This light provides higher light intensity for critical viewing of printed graphics.

- Install a non-reflective/neutral colored covering material on the walls.

- Calibrate the monitors monthly is about the best thing you can do to prolong the monitor's life, ensure what you see is what you print, and reduce the external lighting factor.

Regards,

Alan

<I>Calibrate the monitors monthly is about the best thing you can do to prolong the

monitor's life</I><P>Profiling and calibration of a monitor hasnothing to do with

prolonging a monitors life. But it has everything to do with the ensuring the accuracy

of the monitor an ensuring that what you see on screen is what you get on print. with

CRT monitors it should be done every couple of weeks and jsut before you start a

large project. In general the areas behind the monitors should be a neutral (not warm,

not cool) shade of gray. I am not sure exactly as to how bright or dark the room

should be lit but a comfortable shade of dim is a good physiological description. the

area where prints are evaluated should be lit to certain

standards and glare should be minimized if not eliminated on the monitor screens.

check out: http://www.gretagmacbeth.com

These might help:

http://www.creativepro.com/story/feature/11791.html

http://www.creativepro.com/story/feature/12054.html

Thanks to all for your response. Ellis thank you for enlightening

me on Bruce and Andrew's expertise in this area and their

contact info. ... I appreciate all of your generous and

knowledgeable contibutions to this site.