Experimental evaluation of chromatic changes of colored objects under fluorescent lamps and LEDs and perceptual responses

In the field of electric lighting, the increasing popularity and spread of the LED sources, together with the availability of traditional lamps with different spectral characteristics, compels the designer to consider in his choices not only aspects related to energy saving, but also to take into account lighting quality, meaning for it a correct and pleasant perception of the surrounding environment. Once fixed the values of illuminance and luminance distributions, the parameters that characterize the sources regarding quality of light, according to European Standard EN 12464-1, and that strongly influence the perception of objects and colors are the color appearance, identified by Correlated Color Temperature (CCT), and Color Rendering Index (CRI). However in presence of sources with similar CCT and CRI but with different Spectral Power Distributions (SPD), different perceptual effects occur. In this paper, the effects of two kind of sources, fluorescents and LEDs, both with high CRI, are examined. Results from measurements were analyzed and then put in relation with results of tests on a significant number of subjects.