Uncovering A Problem With The Lumen
Lighting Science
Lighting History
Lighting and Human physiology
100

Area of our vision comprised of only cones and no rods

What is the fovea?

100

Production of this chemical that helps us sleep is blocked by short wavelength (blue) light entering our eyes

What is melatonin?

200

The color you will see on a white surface after you stare at a red surface for a while

(Hint:)

What is cyan?

300

The function that translates radiometric energy into photopic values

-What is V(λ)/luminous efficiency function/photopic luminosity function?


300

Wavelength of light that most sea animals can see better than us

What is blue/UV light?

Light between the wavelengths of 450-495 nm travel the furthest in water before being absorbed, making it the most available color of light in the ocean.

300

This complex industry standard, backed by IES and spearheaded by Kevin Houser and his former students, was developed over 18 months to combat a lagging CIE-backed color rendering index.

What is TM-30?

300
The direction that peak luminance shifts as human vision goes from photopic to scotopic

What is towards shorter wavelength/blue/left?

Our rod cells have a different peak sensitivity than our cone cells, meaning that the luminosity of all objects change as light levels decrease. Red decreases in luminosity the most, while green and blue retain their luminosity the most. This is called the Purkinje effect.


400

The type of cone not present in our center of vision

What is the S cone/blue cone?

Our center of vision is tritanopic. This was observed in 1894 by a German scientist, but was forgotten about it until 1945, when two British scientists independently discovered it and published their findings.

400

A large range of wavelengths removed from light sources in the transition from incandescent light to LEDs

What is infrared light?

400

The reason why looking a few degrees to the side of a star makes it appear brighter to our eyes

What are the traits of scotopic vision?

When viewing a star, incoming light levels are so low that our cones have trouble detecting it and primary brightness perception starts coming from our rods. Since there are no rods in our center of vision, looking a few degrees away will activate more rods and make the star appear brighter.


500

The problem with the lumen

The blue cone is very under-represented in V(λ)


500

This color can rarely flash on the horizon when the sun sets over the ocean

What is green?

500

The English name of the CIE, which is an abbreviation French name "Commission Internationale de l'Éclairage"

What is the International Commission on Illumination?

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