How to Calculate Lighting Uniformity?
Everywhere we travel, especially inside and at night, lighting is necessary. Uniformity is essential to ensuring that an area is lit properly. It enhances user perception and makes the entire space plainly visible. Without uniform lighting, accidents would happen or individuals would fall over easily. This is the rationale behind the government's requirement that businesses supply appropriate, uniform lighting in the workplace. But everywhere, including the football field, the gym, the stadium, the parking lot, etc., some degree of regularity is essential. You have arrived at the appropriate location if you want to learn more about light uniformity. You can find all the information you may possible need in this guide. What are you waiting for, then? We'll begin with the guide.
What Is Light Uniformity?
Light homogeneity, to put it simply, is how evenly a space is lit. To ensure that everything in the room is clearly seen, it is imperative to maintain the homogeneity of the lighting. The job area where the items and immediate surrounds are taken into account when referring to the uniformity of lighting in an area. It is crucial to keep a healthy degree of brightness. The calculation and measurement of light homogeneity in a space, however, are frequently overlooked. Athletes, workers, or citizens may feel uneasy if the light homogeneity is really low for indoor or outdoor lighting because it will impair their vision.
Light Uniformity Definition
The illumination of an area is created by the lighting, according to the definition of light uniformity. When discussing light homogeneity, the ratio of minimum illumination is typically brought up. Regardless of whether direct or indirect lighting is used, the task area needs to be sufficiently uniformly lit.
Light Uniformity Factor
The intensity of the light in a particular area is described by the light uniformity factor. According to EN 12464-1, office lighting needs to be at least 500 lux on average to facilitate data processing, reading, and typing. No matter how old or how big the structure is, the factor still holds true. Lighting has an impact on how we perceive the world. Therefore, homogeneity of lighting is important for navigation and other purposes. We wouldn't be able to see the area to its full potential if there were breaks brought on by illumination changes. Both the homogeneity and its position are impacted by the type of illumination. The majority of focus-intensive tasks need for a uniformity index of about 0.6, but technical drawing and other hard tasks call for a ratio of at least 0.7.
How is Light Uniformity Calculated?
Calculating the light uniformity in a room is crucial to guaranteeing that the right amount of uniformity is given. You can use the following information to compute the light uniformity.
Measurement of Light Uniformity
The brightness level is often measured with a lux meter. The needed figure for the region will then be obtained. What you ought to do with the uniformity data may be on your mind. In light of the fact that lighting uniformity refers to the ratio between the average and minimum lux or the maximum and minimum lux, it is unlikely that you will be able to test the parameter using a single instrument. If you are unfamiliar with the term "lux," it refers to the precise brightness that may be seen on the ground.
Formula for Light Uniformity
The formula below can be used to calculate the homogeneity of the light.
U1 = E (minimum) / E (average) U2 = E (minimum) / E (maximum)
Uniformity is represented by the letter U, and illumination by the letter E. It should be obvious from the calculation above that light uniformity is essentially a ratio of illumination, or lux level. This uniformity ratio is quite helpful since it lets you gauge how evenly the lights illuminate the ground. The ratio would be large if the gap between minimum and average lux is not wide. It suggests improved light homogeneity. The minimum illumination must match the required illumination levels, as per the national standards of practice. The homogeneity levels for the general lighting plan are established at 0.6 and 0.8 in accordance with German DIN and UK CIBSE regulations.
Uniformity of Light Standard
Depending on the type of setting, different light uniformity criteria must be adhered to. For illustration, if we use a football field, we must adhere to the following criterion. Please see Lighting Design for Football Fields.
| Nature of the Sports Field | Illumination | Required U1 Light Uniformity |
| Class I such as for a National Competition | 1000 to 2000 lux | ≥ 0.7 |
| Class II such as for a League | 200 lux | ≥ 0.6 |
| Class III such as for a Training Ball Field | 75-200 lux | ≥ 0.5 |
If you looked at the information above, you probably observed that the lighting uniformity criteria rises as the Field's level of competition does. On the other hand, the illumination and homogeneity requirements would be lower if the field was intended for leisure and training reasons. In the case of broadcast and international matches, the lighting requirement is typically strict.
Lighting uniformity requirements for commercial and industrial settings.
| The Area | The Light Uniformity Standard |
| Sports Field | 0.5-0.8 |
| Office | 0.4-0.6 |
| Parking Lot | 0.4-0.5 |
| Warehouse | 0.4-0.6 |
| Running Track | 0.3-0.5 |
| Airport | 0.2-0.3 |
| Road lighting | U0 between 0.35 and 0.4; UI between 0.4 and 0.7 |
Increasing high uniformity lighting is beneficial because it helps employees and drivers see better at night. However, the price of illumination increases with lighting system complexity. Therefore, if you want to increase consistent illumination, you must pay the price.
Conclusion
After reading this post, you will be fully informed about light uniformity. High consistency in the work area is essential, yet research shows that too much uniformity lowers attention and makes workers more quickly weary. For this reason, it is necessary to add some contrast to the walls.
