How to calculate illumination uniformity?

1. General

No matter where you go, you need lighting, whether it is an outdoor road, an indoor warehouse, or a workshop, and lighting is not simply lighting, and uniformity is just as important. For example, on roads, we often see dark areas at the intersection of street light poles, commonly known as "zebra crossings". The illumination here is significantly lower than in other areas, so there are obvious dark areas. So why is there a "zebra crossing"? The reason is that the illumination uniformity is not good. "Zebra crossing" is easy to cause drivers to misjudge the road, resulting in car accidents, so the road standards have uniformity standards for various types of roads. Refer to BS EN 13201-2:2015 BS EN 13201-2-2015.pdf

In addition to roads, any other place should pay attention to uniformity. If the uniformity is not good, it is easy to cause falls or accidents. Because of this, any place has a standard for uniformity, such as football fields, gymnasiums, parking lots, production Even lighting is required everywhere, such as in workshops. If you want to learn more about uniformity, you are in the right place and this article will share all the information you need. What are you waiting for? Let's start with the guide.

2. What is illumination uniformity?

Literally, illumination uniformity refers to the uniformity of light in the place. From a visual point of view, it means whether there is an obvious dark area. No dark area indicates good uniformity. It is important to maintain uniformity of lighting to ensure that everything in the venue is perfectly visible. Some environments require high uniformity, such as roads, sports venues, factories, and office environments. If the uniformity of these environments is not good, it is easy to cause eye fatigue, bring bad feelings, reduce work efficiency, and even cause accidents. Imagine if your eyes were constantly switching between light and dark.

2.1 Illumination uniformity Definition

Illumination uniformity refers to the ratio of the minimum illuminance to the average illuminance on a specified surface. The more uniform the light distribution, the better the illuminance and the more comfortable the visual experience. Whether direct or indirect lighting is used, sufficient uniformity of lighting is required throughout the task area.

2.2 Illumination uniformity Factor

The light uniformity coefficient refers to the light intensity within a given area. According to the EN 13201-3 standard, the average road brightness of the M1 level of the motor vehicle lane must reach 2.0cd/m2, and the uniformity must reach 0.4 to meet the safe passage of motor vehicles. No matter what the road conditions are, these factors need to be satisfied. The perception of road conditions is affected by lighting; therefore, lighting uniformity is very important for navigation, etc. If there are dark areas caused by falling lights, it prevents our full perception of the road conditions. Additionally, most focus-intensive tasks require a uniformity index of around 0.6, while technical drawing and other demanding tasks require a ratio of at least 0.7.

3. How to calculate illumination uniformity?

To ensure that proper light uniformity is provided, it is important to calculate light uniformity in a space. To help you calculate the light uniformity, the following will prove useful.

3.1 illumination uniformity Measurement

The lux meter is often used to measure luminance values in the field. Through the illuminance meter, we will get the actual illuminance value of the specified area. You may be wondering how the uniformity number should be calculated. Currently, there is no single device on the market that can measure lighting uniformity, as lighting uniformity refers to the ratio between average and minimum lux or maximum and minimum lux. Do you know what unit lux is? It is a unit of illuminance that refers to the exact brightness that reaches the ground.

3.2 illumination uniformity Formula

To measure illumination uniformity, the following formula is required.

U1 = E(minimum)/E(average) U2 = E(minimum)/E(maximum)

U stands for uniformity, and E stands for illuminance, respectively. As can be seen from the above formula, illumination uniformity is the ratio of illuminance or lux level. This Lighting Uniformity Ratio is important because it lets you determine how evenly the light distributes light to a given area. If the difference between average and minimum illuminance is not high, the ratio will be high. The uniformity is high. According to the standard, the minimum illuminance needs to correspond to the recommended illuminance level. According to the BS EN 13201-2:2015 standard, the general road lighting scheme sets the uniformity level to 0.4 and 0.6.

3.3 illumination uniformity Standard

Depending on the traffic flow on the road, different light uniformity standards need to be followed. For example, if we take road lighting as an example, the following criteria must be followed. Please refer to the following different road lighting standards:

Table 1 — M lighting classes

Table 2 — C lighting classes based on road surface illuminance

Table 3 — P lighting classes

Table 4 — HS lighting classes

There is no harm in increasing the lighting uniformity, as it helps improve the driver's vision. However, the more complex the lighting system, the higher the lighting cost. So, if you want to increase uniform lighting, you need to bear the cost. The best way to save money is to buy LED Street lights from MKLIGHTS.

4. Conclusion

After reading this article, you will know all about lighting uniformity. While achieving a high degree of uniformity in the task domain is critical, studies have shown that excessive light uniformity can reduce people's alertness and make them more prone to burnout. Therefore, it is necessary to create some contrast on the walls. Make sure to buy LED Street lights or LED Flood Lights from MKLIGHTS as this company offers the best lights.

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Specification_SE_LED Street Light.pdf

9. People also ask

a. How to calculate illumination uniformity?

Calculates the average of all measurements (total average or AvgT). Divide the mean of the lowest quartile (AvgLQ) by the total mean (AvgT) to obtain distribution uniformity (DU).

b. What is good uniformity ratio?

Lighting uniformity (translated into human perception of how uniformly the lighting is distributed throughout the parking lot) is expressed as the ratio of maximum to minimum lighting levels. The current IESNA recommendation is 15:1 (although 10:1 is commonly used).

c. How do you improve uniformity in dialux Evo?

You must increase the minimum value of illuminance calculated on the calculated surface to increase uniformity (minimum/average).

d. What is DIALux calculation?

DIALux is world-class software that enables our lighting designers and engineers to create high-quality lighting installations using the best lighting equipment in the world.

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