The Comedy of Errors of Light
Booths and its Calibration
Today I want to write about the
errors committed in calibration of
Light boxes by almost all ISO
17025 certified labs in India , and
its acceptance by the auditors.
ISO 17025 calls for very strict
calibration , verification and
maintenance of instruments used
for testing.
I strongly beleive that more by
design , users of light boxes have
been made to believe that Lux
value alone need to be calibrated
and the Spectral Power Distribution
and Color Temperature ( the last 2
terms are seldom mentioned by
anyone leave alone understand it ).
The reason for this is largely lack of
knowledge of the need to to
measure these values not only by
the Indian companies that made
low cost light boxes. Not only were
these people ignorant , due to their
propaganda and the lack of
knowledge even among dyers , Lux
measurements were considered as
sufficient measurement.
The choice of Lux as a parameter
was in my view due to 2 reasons ,
the measuring instrument is cheap
and easy to achieve with
commercial Fl Lamps.
Further ISO 105 A01also does not
say anything about the need to
measure SPD and CCT , it simply
says 600 Lux and above is
considered as good for Grey scale
assessments , another mistake
here is no maximum value is
mentioned, high lux values can
also cause problems.
So the Light Box makers bought
low cost Lux meters , that is mostly
used in the film industry to
measure lux at the Heroines face
and started measuring the light
inside the cabinet to be 600 Lux
and above and started selling
certified Light boxes.
The major problem is no one know
what lamps were generating the
600+ Lux , and it could be
anything D65, F02 F11 etc.
The auditors who were accredited
by NABL ( National accreditation
Board for Testing and calibration
labs ) also went only by Lux values
and did not bother to check the
SPD or the CCT.
One very much acclaimed Auditor
even dismissed me saying that
SPD and CCT are not required to be
measured.
So several Indian made light boxed
had D55, CWF TL84 or any lamp
with 600 lux and got away as
calibrated light boxes.
This is the the biggest cause for
debates in visual matches as well
as Grey scale values.
Comments and Recommendations.
• Please note Light Boxes
need to be calibrated for
Lux, SPD and CCT.
• Refer to AATCC EP 9 for
more details on what
 must be CCT of the lamps
and the desirable Lux
values.
• CIE has full details of the
SPD of all the lamps
• Calibration has to be
carried out every 1000
hours of operation or 1
year which ever is earlier.
• Fluorescent Lamps cannot
be adjusted and need to
replaced with new ones if
the required values are
not achieved.
• Do not be taken in by
price, compliance to
standards and
specification are more
important, as Color is the
biggest property based on
which the Apparel
business is done. Right
from design to purchase
of a product by a
consumer.
• Good Light boxes show
the color as close as it is
in its original state and
there by reduces debates.
• Clean the Tubes daily, or
fiber keeps accumulating
on the tubes and over a
period of time changes
the Lux , CCT and SPD .
• Paint the Light Box
Munsell N5 or N7 as per
the manufacturers
instructions.