A workshop jointly organized by the EBU and the GTC (Guild of Television Cameramen) brought industry experts together last Saturday to learn about and test the EBU's new LED light assessment tools. The workshop, "LED lighting - setting the standard", was held at BSkyB's Sky Studios near London.
Former BBC broadcast engineer and colour sciences expert Alan Roberts presented the Television Lighting Consistency Index 2012. The TLCI-2012 was developed by the EBU to address some of the issues associated with the use of LED lighting in film and television production. Using the software in conjunction with its accompanying guidelines can help to avoid the need for expensive corrections in post-production.
Sky TV's Lighting Director Iain Davidson, introduced some of the problems addressed by the TLCI, speaking based on his own practical experiences. The benefits of LED lights are clear: low power consumption, increasingly higher light output, lightweight construction, and low heat emissions. The overall result is lower production costs, however the variable colour temperature settings mean that colour performance requires additional attention, particularly when mixing sources.
Professional cinematographer Jonathan Harrison spoke during the morning session, delivering a clear message about the dangers associated with getting the light settings wrong. Robert Yeo of testing experts Pro-Lite Technology gave a perspective on spectroradiometry, explaining why the CCT (correlated colour temperature) metric is not appropriate for judging a light source.
Participants had been asked to bring along their own lights and CCT meters and the afternoon was spent in measuring lights and using the TLCI-2012 software. A total of 44 people participated, drawn from the lighting industry, the EBU LED Lights group, the GTC and the STLD (Society of Television Lighting and Design). There was general enthusiasm for the TLCI-2012 and the role it can play in future. It is hoped that this workshop can contribute to the industry adopting the TLCI as a standard in future.