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Museum lighting: Optimizing the illuminant
Author(s) -
Scuello Michael,
Abramov Israel,
Gordon James,
Weintraub Steven
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
color research and application
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.393
H-Index - 62
eISSN - 1520-6378
pISSN - 0361-2317
DOI - 10.1002/col.10231
Subject(s) - standard illuminant , gamut , painting , artificial intelligence , computer science , computer graphics (images) , set (abstract data type) , computer vision , mathematics , art , visual arts , programming language
Museums must choose illumination that will optimize observers' aesthetic experiences without compromising preservation of the artworks. Typical lighting is 3000 K at 200 lux. We examined the effects of color temperature by comparing the same “artwork” under several different illuminants (in side‐by‐side miniature museum rooms); for each painting, observers rated the preference for seeing it under one of the two illuminants; this was repeated for all pairings of illuminants. Our observers preferred higher color temperatures at about 3600 K. Between viewing trials observers' visual systems were adapted to a specific illuminant. This had no effect on preferred illumination of an artwork. To explore a wider range of artworks, we developed a set of numerical scales that could be applied directly to individual pictures; these were viewed, one at a time, in a single simulated room illuminated by one of a series of illuminants. Again, observers preferred a color temperature of about 3600 K. In both studies there was a small interaction between illuminant and color gamut of a given painting. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 29, 121–127, 2004; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/col.10231