- #1
- Publié par
hercules97 le 08 Janv 2020, 08:43
The story of light – When light is more than light
Recently, the product line Philips Hue smart LED lighting ecosystem can be found on top reviews as well as on the lists for Best of reviews awards for smart home devices in 2018 and 2019. It is not difficult to find the best products in the modern digital life, but in order to go through the process of developing new products is not always easy. Nowadays, light is not just light; light is more than our basic illumination demand. Light also has its story.
Traditionally, a range of photometric criteria will be the measurement to define the light produced or the quality of light. Obviously, characteristics such as lumen output and uniformity, as well as tools including the Color Rendering Index (CRI) and the Unified Glare Rating (UGR) remain to play an essential role in the lightning industry and any lighting application. However, this is all quite classical in the current social context, and this “pure” photometric is not really meaningful in the modern industry which requires a connected lighting solution.
Connected lighting is not only changing the way we illuminate our living and working spaces, but also impacts on the manner in which the whole industry measures the quality of light itself. Instead of relying solely on physical metrics, the quality now features more in this discussion.
![]()
What is beyond photometric?
Doing business in the current business environment is not easy. Now, caring about your products and service is not enough, as the market demands more consideration of the human element. Manufacturers have taken human-centric lightning, which takes advantage of light in order to accelerate human vision, performance, and well-being, and see in connected lighting a proper instrument for reaching its goals. In a human-centric lighting world, light is used as an effective assistant in life routines, e.g. improving the quality of sleep, supporting the quality of work, helping to rebalance people’s moods or energize people after waking up, etc., and all of this is seen to be as important as generating and maintaining a target level of light output. In another side of this human-centric lighting, more and more people live in cities. People will not just need more lights, they need a sort of light that’s energy-efficient and sustainable in order to make cities “smart”, more livable, and resilient (we know that currently, LED lighting can be the solution, but we always demand more). Just in the case of human-centric consideration, light is evaluated in more than the traditional role as a tool of illumination.
Nowadays, people are talking more and more about the Internet of Things as a revolution in this time of change. We will discuss the IoT in more detail later, in a separate article. In this article, however, we must emphasize the impact of IoT on the lighting industry. We have heard about many innovative stories from some big giants in this industry, e.g. Phillips, which help to update the trend. When connected lighting serves as a part of IoT, the idea of the quality of light expands beyond measurements presented in standard photometric records. How fast does the system work? How “smart” can the system be? How many “languages” can the system speak? How good is the communication between the lighting system and the connected devices?
See Also: Top Rated Best Products On The Market - Best Of Product Reviewed
Dive deeper
Below is a more detailed discussion of the quality of today’s lighting solutions, taking into account both the established physical standard and other types of metrics.
![]()
Uptime and reliability:
The vital role of lighting devices in illumination does not alter here. However, the quality of light is more enhanced. As mentioned above, LED lighting is more reliable and longer lasting than conventional lighting, at least from the basic role of illumination’s perspective. One thing needs to be stressed here: LED lighting is inherently digital and makes up the foundation of a connected lighting system.
Moreover, the connected lighting system is programmed to identify errors and failures systematically, as well as perform some preventive maintenance thanks to the integration of connected luminaires and sensors. Some systems are also set to suggest some recommendations to the users to prevent and/or solve problems.
Extendibility
The connected lightening solution is not just only a machine, but also a platform for IoT applications in the future. Most of the manufacturers will offer products which are upgradable to make sure there is space for the future adaption of new products and features.
Customization
One of the most important aspects of a connected lighting solution is that it is digitally programmed. This means that this solution will be feasibly applied and customized based on the customers’ demands. Light now is a system, not just a device. Light is a sophisticated system itself, reflecting and responding to human requirements.
Data and communications
For a small scale of application, such as at-home use, we cannot see a clear picture of this quality. Looking at a broader scale, data and communication will be useful in the management board of a company, a city, or a country. Providing data for infrastructures, for energy consumption plans, or saving the world a bit at a time is more helpful.
The connected lighting solution can “speak.” As a system, you can enjoy communicating with your home devices without moving your body or touching anything. Those can communicate via Ethernet, Bluetooth, near-field communications (NFC), or other methods. Now you can control your light quality to get efficient results more easily, automatically, and remotely.
Useful reference: Best Of Product Comparison - How To Choose Best Product
The Internet of Things put the end user in the driving seat and makes the manufacturer more active to create more excellent products. New products and solutions begin with customers’ new demand or even create demand for customers. However, one certain thing is that demand is always changing. Therefore, the lighting industry will go forward and go deep into more innovative breakthroughs to improve the quality of light and explore more meanings of light.
Recently, the product line Philips Hue smart LED lighting ecosystem can be found on top reviews as well as on the lists for Best of reviews awards for smart home devices in 2018 and 2019. It is not difficult to find the best products in the modern digital life, but in order to go through the process of developing new products is not always easy. Nowadays, light is not just light; light is more than our basic illumination demand. Light also has its story.
Traditionally, a range of photometric criteria will be the measurement to define the light produced or the quality of light. Obviously, characteristics such as lumen output and uniformity, as well as tools including the Color Rendering Index (CRI) and the Unified Glare Rating (UGR) remain to play an essential role in the lightning industry and any lighting application. However, this is all quite classical in the current social context, and this “pure” photometric is not really meaningful in the modern industry which requires a connected lighting solution.
Connected lighting is not only changing the way we illuminate our living and working spaces, but also impacts on the manner in which the whole industry measures the quality of light itself. Instead of relying solely on physical metrics, the quality now features more in this discussion.
What is beyond photometric?
Doing business in the current business environment is not easy. Now, caring about your products and service is not enough, as the market demands more consideration of the human element. Manufacturers have taken human-centric lightning, which takes advantage of light in order to accelerate human vision, performance, and well-being, and see in connected lighting a proper instrument for reaching its goals. In a human-centric lighting world, light is used as an effective assistant in life routines, e.g. improving the quality of sleep, supporting the quality of work, helping to rebalance people’s moods or energize people after waking up, etc., and all of this is seen to be as important as generating and maintaining a target level of light output. In another side of this human-centric lighting, more and more people live in cities. People will not just need more lights, they need a sort of light that’s energy-efficient and sustainable in order to make cities “smart”, more livable, and resilient (we know that currently, LED lighting can be the solution, but we always demand more). Just in the case of human-centric consideration, light is evaluated in more than the traditional role as a tool of illumination.
Nowadays, people are talking more and more about the Internet of Things as a revolution in this time of change. We will discuss the IoT in more detail later, in a separate article. In this article, however, we must emphasize the impact of IoT on the lighting industry. We have heard about many innovative stories from some big giants in this industry, e.g. Phillips, which help to update the trend. When connected lighting serves as a part of IoT, the idea of the quality of light expands beyond measurements presented in standard photometric records. How fast does the system work? How “smart” can the system be? How many “languages” can the system speak? How good is the communication between the lighting system and the connected devices?
See Also: Top Rated Best Products On The Market - Best Of Product Reviewed
Dive deeper
Below is a more detailed discussion of the quality of today’s lighting solutions, taking into account both the established physical standard and other types of metrics.
Uptime and reliability:
The vital role of lighting devices in illumination does not alter here. However, the quality of light is more enhanced. As mentioned above, LED lighting is more reliable and longer lasting than conventional lighting, at least from the basic role of illumination’s perspective. One thing needs to be stressed here: LED lighting is inherently digital and makes up the foundation of a connected lighting system.
Moreover, the connected lighting system is programmed to identify errors and failures systematically, as well as perform some preventive maintenance thanks to the integration of connected luminaires and sensors. Some systems are also set to suggest some recommendations to the users to prevent and/or solve problems.
Extendibility
The connected lightening solution is not just only a machine, but also a platform for IoT applications in the future. Most of the manufacturers will offer products which are upgradable to make sure there is space for the future adaption of new products and features.
Customization
One of the most important aspects of a connected lighting solution is that it is digitally programmed. This means that this solution will be feasibly applied and customized based on the customers’ demands. Light now is a system, not just a device. Light is a sophisticated system itself, reflecting and responding to human requirements.
Data and communications
For a small scale of application, such as at-home use, we cannot see a clear picture of this quality. Looking at a broader scale, data and communication will be useful in the management board of a company, a city, or a country. Providing data for infrastructures, for energy consumption plans, or saving the world a bit at a time is more helpful.
The connected lighting solution can “speak.” As a system, you can enjoy communicating with your home devices without moving your body or touching anything. Those can communicate via Ethernet, Bluetooth, near-field communications (NFC), or other methods. Now you can control your light quality to get efficient results more easily, automatically, and remotely.
Useful reference: Best Of Product Comparison - How To Choose Best Product
The Internet of Things put the end user in the driving seat and makes the manufacturer more active to create more excellent products. New products and solutions begin with customers’ new demand or even create demand for customers. However, one certain thing is that demand is always changing. Therefore, the lighting industry will go forward and go deep into more innovative breakthroughs to improve the quality of light and explore more meanings of light.
