For some time the industry has successfully been introducing LED (Light Emitting Diode) based lighting systems into increasingly larger market segments.
LEDs offer several advantages in terms of efficiency (reduced power consumption), light weight and less need for power hungry air conditioning systems. This makes LED light sources economically very attractive. Most broadcasters are already using these light sources for just this reason.
Nevertheless, LED lighting open the door to several problems with colorimetry/colour reproduction resulting in reduced picture quality, interferences etc. As Broadcast Television is constantly seeking to improve picture quality (in order to maintain sales potential in a converging market), colour fidelity and consistency is an important factor in these efforts. The figure to the right illustrates this colour reproduction challenge.
Two different, and to the eye apparently white, light sources were used to illuminate the same chart as seen by the same camera in the split field picture to your right.
There is only one existing internationally approved metric system for the assessment of light sources, the Colour Rendering Index (CRI). It assigns an index value to a light source by measuring the colour errors it produces when compared with one of two reference sources, P3000 or D65. It uses colour analysis based on the colour science of the 1960s, and does not appear to have been updated since its launch. It was designed as a guide for lighting designers creating retail environments, shops. Television and film are different, they have special features that can help and hinder in the assessment of lighting.
If members do not address these problems, the savings in power costs, may be exceeded by losses in the image quality produced. On this background the FTV-LED project aims at providing users with advice and new tools enabling them to make the right decisions on the use of LED lighting and thereby avoiding the costly pitfalls.