Digital BW, The Print

Snip

>Solux create their own color universe; no other artificial light source produces
>results similar to them. On the other hand, professional proofing booths and
>light boxes produce results very similar to Ott-Lites, both being multi-phosphor
>fluorescents. So if your goal is to be seeing what other proofing lights show,
>an Ott-Lite isn't a bad low cost choice. Multi-phosphor fluorescents also use
>much less energy, last far longer, and retain their color accuracy much longer
>than Solux bulbs, as well as reducing the possibilities of burns, and not
>overheating your studio. Solux really need to be switched on quickly for a print
>check, then turned off again, due to heat as well as fairly rapid color change
>over time. Multi-phosphor fluorescents can be run 24/7 with little energy use,
>little heat buildup, and little change over time. So these other factors should be
>considered when choosing a light source.

Snip

Dear David

I agree that if you are producing output for commercial printing then 
there is some sense in using a decent proofing booth that meets approved 
standards, however I would imagine that most members of this list are 
more interested in viewing their prints without the interference of 
spikes.  I suggest a look at this paper would confirm the validity of a 
careful selection of lighting for the assessment of prints. 
<http://www.babelcolor.com/download/Light_under_control_2005-11-08.pdf>

I'm sure that most members will have taken their prints to where they 
can evaluate them under real daylight when making critical colour 
correction decisions, because under spiky lighting it is not possible to 
do this effectively.

Cheers

Richard
-- 
Richard Kenward      <www.artisan-digital-services.co.uk>
phone +44(0)1873 890456
fax +44(0)1873 890565

>>I would imagine that most members of this list are
more interested in viewing their prints without the interference of
spikes.

It's tricky; the eye is a three channel broadband colorimeter, not a  
grating spectrophotometer, so spikes have less visible effect than one  
might think...

C. D. Tobie
Global Product Technology Mngr.
Digital Imaging & Home Theater
Datacolor.com
CDTobie@...

On Feb 28, 2010, at 10:26 AM, Richard Kenward <richard@... 
 > wrote:

> I would imagine that most members of this list are
> more interested in viewing their prints without the interference of
> spikes.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

In his posting of Mon, 1 Mar 2010,  C. D. Tobie writes in reply to 
Richard Kenward

 >>I would imagine that most members of this list are
more interested in viewing their prints without the interference of
spikes.

It's tricky; the eye is a three channel broadband colorimeter, not a
grating spectrophotometer, so spikes have less visible effect than one
might think...

Dear David

I find that when making critical colour decisions, having real daylight 
quality light is important.  IMO spiky lighting cannot be relied on for 
making accurate colour decisions, and of course there is inconsistency 
between the light tubes from different manufacturers purporting to be 
selling tubes of graphics quality, then also there is the variation in 
the booths.

Cheers

Richard
-- 
Richard Kenward      <www.artisan-digital-services.co.uk>
phone +44(0)1873 890456
fax +44(0)1873 890565