Guidelines

Building a Lighting Laboratory

Revision: December 2023
 Contents
Safety Information ........................................................................................................3
Laboratory Environment Considerations ......................................................................4
Humidity .......................................................................................................................4
Electrical test conditions ...............................................................................................5
Sensor Distance.............................................................................................................6
Minimum Room Dimensions, LabSpion ........................................................................7
Minimum Room Dimensions, BaseSpion ......................................................................8
Creating Darkness .........................................................................................................9
Avoiding Stray Light or Reflected Light .........................................................................9

These guidelines contain descriptions and troubleshooting necessary to install and

maintain your lighting laboratory.

For news, Q&A and support at Viso Systems, visit our website at
http://www.visosystems.com

Other manuals for Viso products can be downloaded from www.visosystem.com

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Safety Information
Warning! This product is not for household use.

Read this manual before installing and operating Viso laboratory equipment,
follow the safety warnings listed below, and study all the cautions in the relevant
manuals.

Preventing electric shocks

Make sure power supplies are always grounded.

Use a source of AC power that complies with the local building and electrical codes,
that has both overload and ground-fault protection.

If the controller or the power supply are in any way damaged, defective, wet, or
show signs of overheating, disconnect the power supply from the AC power and
contact Viso Service for assistance.

Do not install or use the device outdoors. Do not spray with or immerse in water or
any other liquid.

Do not remove any covers or attempt to repair the controller or the power supply.
Refer any service to Viso.

Disposing of products
Viso Systems products are supplied in compliance with Directive 2012/19/EU on
waste - electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) together with the RoHS Directive
2011/65/EU with amendments 2015/863. Help preserve the environment! Ensure
that this product is recycled at the end of its lifetime. Your supplier can give details of
local arrangements for the disposal of Viso Systems products.

© 2007 Viso Systems ApS, Denmark

All rights reserved. No part of this manual may be reproduced, in any form or by any
means, without permission in writing from Viso Systems ApS, Denmark. Information
subject to change without notice. Viso Systems ApS and all affiliated companies
disclaim liability for any injury, damage, direct or indirect loss, consequential or
economic loss or any other loss occasioned by the use of, inability to use or reliance
on the information contained in this manual.

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 Introduction

About this Document

These guidelines describe how a lighting laboratory can be designed and built to
support optimal measuring conditions for your Viso product.

Illustrations primarily show the Viso LabSpion goniometer but principles apply to any
goniometer system.

Laboratory Environment Considerations

 Always keep your laboratory clean from dust and particles. Dust may
interfere with measurement if it accumulates on and around the sensor by
introducing straylight and disturbing translucence. Dust and particles in the
mechanical parts of the goniometer may disturb functionality and may
cause wear on motors, belts and bearings. Disconnect all USB cables and
power supplies, and vacuum clean your goniometer regularly (normally
every month) to remove dust. Mount a brush on the vacuum cleaner
handle. Dry off all external surfaces with a clean, dry, cotton cloth (avoid
statics).
 Avoiding air currents is necessary to minimize cooling of devices under
test. Limit air flow (e.g. from air conditioning systems or draught) around
the system (may alter light source intensity).
 Limit heat transmission from light source through mounting system.
Should be mounted as realistically as possible

According to ANSI/IES LM-79-19 the temperature shall be measured max. 1,5 from
DUT and in the same height and the temperature sensor shall be shielded from
direct optical radiation from any source – DUT (Device Under Test) and auxiliary.

Humidity
Relative humidity values greater than approximately 65% can lead to corrosion
effects in some instruments, and values below 10% can lead to electrostatic effects.
Therefore, laboratory humidity should be monitored and maintained between 10%
and 65%.

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Electrical test conditions
Correct measurements rely on steady and correct power feed to both instruments
and DUT. Viso systems contain a built-in power analyzer that will automatically
provide you with an overview of your power feed. In some areas, the mains power is
not sufficiently stable or cannot sustain the voltage needed for the DUT in case.
Under such conditions, Viso recommends feeding at least the DUT with an external
power supply.

The Viso Light Inspector software readily supports several types – see more here:
https://www.visosystems.com/products/compatible-equipment/

Power supply requirements

According to LM79-19, AC power supplies shall provide a sinusoidal waveform at the
prescribed frequency (60/50 Hz +/- 2 Hz). The total harmonic distortion or RMS shall
not exceed 3% of the fundamental frequency.

During test (both AC and DC), the voltage shall be kept at +/- 0,2%. This stability is
tested automatically on Viso power analyzers.

Electrical settings
The DUT shall be operated at the rated RMS AC or DC Voltage or rated DC current
per the specification of the SSL product for its normal use. The set value
measurement shall fall within a tolerance interval of +/-0,5% for AC RM Voltage, +/-
0,2% for DC Voltage, and +/-0,2% for DC current.

More good advice can be found in ANSI/IES LM-79-19 and CIE S- 025.

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 Sensor Distance
The measurement method used in the Viso systems is called “far field”, which means
that the distance between the measuring light source and the sensor should be at
least 8 times the diameter/length of the light source as shown below.

Sensor distance =
Minimum 8 x light source diameter/length

According to CIE S 025/E:2015, minimum measuring distances should be (D is the

largest dimension of the luminous area):

 Beam angle ≥90° (in all measurement planes): ≥5xD (Viso Systems ≥8xD)
 Beam angle ≥60°: ≥10xD
 Narrow angular distribution / steep gradients: ≥15xD
 Large non-luminous areas with maximum distance S: ≥15x(D+S)
Please note that “light source diameter/length” is only the illuminated part of the
luminaire!

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Minimum Room Dimensions, LabSpion
A Typical LabSpion set-up looks like this:

As the distance to the sensor must be at least 8 x luminaire diameter plus the
physical properties of the goniometer (1 m) and the sensor (0.5 m), we can calculate
the minimum dimensions of the room to be as shown below.

See more in the dedicated LabSpion user manual

https://data.visosystems.com/content/manuals/labspion_user_manual.pdf

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 Minimum Room Dimensions, BaseSpion
A Typical BaseSpion set-up looks like this

The Sensor Rail that attaches to the Goniometer Base comes standard in three parts
giving you the option of three different setups, depending on your needs and what
your room allows.

In the chart below is given the max light source size for each rail position.

Light
Rail Sensor Table Room
Source Rail
position Distance Length Length
Diameter
1 40 mm 350 mm 2m 3m I
2 60 mm 500 mm 2m 3m I
3 90 mm 750 mm 2m 3m I
4 120 mm 1000 mm 2m 3m I
5 180 mm 1500 mm 2m 3m I
6 240 mm 2000 mm 3.5 m 4.5 m I+II
7 300 mm 2500 mm 3.5 m 4.5 m I+II
8 360 mm 3000 mm 3.5 m 4.5 m I+II
9 420 mm 3500 mm 5m 6m I+II+III
10 540 mm 4500 mm 5m 6m I+II+III

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Creating Darkness
Ideally, all surroundings in your lab should be totally absorbing. For visual light this
mean densely black. As most Viso Spectrometers sensor just work in the visual 60-
830 nm range.

For Viso UV sensors: UV-light is very easily absorbed, so most surface are quite “UV-
black”, however mirror-like surfaces should be avoided.

For Viso NIR sensors: NIR-light Is difficult to handle. The best absorbers are black,
heavy materials, that can absorb a lot of heat.

Black is not black and very few materials absorb all light. Even a dark wall or floor can
reflect light also known as stray light. This results in measurement values which are
too high. When the sensor is close to the walls or floor the stray light can enter the
sensor and give higher measurement result.

Avoiding Stray Light or Reflected Light

In a narrow space, light will be reflected in walls/ceiling/floor of the lab. The most
important surface is the surface just behind the goniometer (thus facing the sensor).
When measuring in gamma-angles close to 180 much light will go backward,
potentially being reflected on the back wall, and bounce straight back to the sensor.

A good way of testing the reflections of the ceiling/floor/side wall of the lab is
placing a powerful, uncovered light source (e.g. 70 W MH lamp) in the gonio, placing
you eyes next to the sensor and gazing at the gonio, while covering the light source
with you hand stretching out the arm. Then, after adaptation, you should be able to
distinguish the surfaces that reflect most. To test the stray light situation in total, run
a full measurement with the straight view to the sensor is shielded. If the room is not
prone to reflect light that measurement result should be very close to zero lumen. If
you have a UV light source this method is your only way of checking stray light in
your lab.

Light reflected into sensor from the walls and the floor

To test the absorption properties of the back wall explicitly, run a light measurement
of directional light source facing the sensor. The measurement should then show a
zero output in the upper hemisphere.

An extra precaution to avoid straight light is to place baffles like the proposed curtain
between the sensor and the gonio to physically restrict straight light from getting
into the sensor, see Light Baffles, page 11.

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 Room Surfaces
In general, many black, fuzzy textiles are more absorbent than black paint because
the surface can trap light.

Theatre masking and blackout materials (cloth and paints) are especially designed to
absorb light and work very well in the lighting laboratory as well. Many theatre
supply websites even list the absorption percentage.

Black richly folded curtains will work better than just black curtains since light might
be reflected back into the folds.

Black carpeting work well on both floors and ceilings.

Goniometer Dark Zone

Normally when doing light measurement, a completely dark room is needed. But
with Viso spectrophotogoniometers it is not a necessity for the whole room to be
dark as the system comprises a special directional sensor. This means having only the
goniometer zone dark will be sufficient as shown below.

The Dark Zone is recommended to be 2 meters deep or more.

A room can be darkened either by painting the walls black or using a black curtain.

A black theatre fabric curtain can work better than a painted wall, as the folds in the
curtain can function as small light bafflers trapping the light.

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Measuring through a Door Opening
In cases where the length of the room is not sufficient for larger luminaires, the
sensor can be placed outside a door opening to extend the sensor-to-light source
distance as shown below. Placing the sensor outside of the room using a door
opening does not adversely affect the measurement. In fact, the doorway opening
can help reduce stray light.

It should be noted that if the outside room is not dark, the “calibrate to ambient”
functionality must be used to deduct the ambient light from the measurement.

Light Baffles
The Viso sensor “sees” something like a 30-degree cone. The longer the
measurement distance, the more straylight from walls/ceiling/floor will be able to hit
the sensor. One of the simplest solutions to eliminate stray light is to place a port
hole (light baffle) as illustrated below.

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 A baffle with a suitable diameter (maybe 40-100 cm) can be used at different
distances. The important thing is that the sensor can “see” all luminous parts
through the hole.

To check, stand just behind the sensor head and make sure that you can see all parts
of the luminaire through the hole.

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Creating a Light Baffle
Preferably , the baffle should be a sheet of molton or a thin wooden plate painted
black to ensure that no ambient light is reflected on the baffle Creating a light baffle
can be done by using a black curtain and making a circular hole in the middle, as
shown below. Place the light baffle between the goniometer and sensor at a distance
where the lamp is visible from the sensor.

For example, the LabSpion can measure luminaires with a maximum length/diameter
of 150 cm, so the size of the light beam halfway from the sensor to the lamp will be
75 cm. Consequently, a light baffle placed halfway needs to have a diameter of
75+25 cm to compensate for small errors in installation.

The procedure of cutting out a light baffle along with the final result is shown above.

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 LabDisc standard baffle

Labdisc for LabSpion

LabDisc for BaseSpion

You may also consider the standard Viso accessory LabDisc to prevent straylight in
your lab. This unit sits permanently on the tripod/LabRail stem and limits the sensor
field-of-view to a minimum.

Avoiding Ambient Light

Viso systems and the Light Inspector software can be set to detect and compensate
for ambient light automatically. This feature works well given

 that the ambient light is not dominant (contributes to sensor input with
less than about 10%),
 that the ambient light is static, which is not the case with e.g. daylight that
might shift during measurement while clouds drift by.

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Consequently, it is always recommended to perform measurement in a dark room
facility to optimize precision.

Laboratory Work Light

As the room surfaces are dark, it is a good idea to install powerful general lighting
that allow practical work inside the laboratory to take place safely and efficiently.
Good lighting will also be necessary for cleaning and maintenance.

Make sure, that the general lighting is turned off ahead of every measurement.
Some laboratories have contacts or that turn lights off when closing the lab door (as
in a refrigerator).

Some laboratories install a webcam in the lab. With a webcam, the operator can
both check that the general lighting is off and watch the progress of the
measurement.

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