Signs of the Times - August 2016 - (Page 30)

LED Upd a te By M. Nisa Khan, Ph.D. Lightfair 2016: Smart Controls and IoT Backstage Lighting Quality Remember the dot-com and housing bubbles? L ightfair 2016, the predominant annual lighting tradeshow held in April this year, at San Diego's Convention Center, continues to be overwhelmed by LED lighting. This year, the continuing trend for embracing LED lighting was unequivocally enforced because the solid-state lighting technology functions well with Internet-based controls that can operate via wireless networks. Most notable is the LED attachment to the Internet of Things (IoT) frenzy that now appears unstoppable. LED Smart lighting now resides in the same "must-have" arena of autonomous cars, robots, and other self-managing electronic devices that promise to ease our lives and livelihood. Electric lighting has transformed our society for more than 100 years. It boosted both our mood and association with the environment, but also affected culture, productivity and economic circumstances. Undoubtedly, electric signage also played a major role for businesses that built their brands through illuminated signage. However, such enormity pales in comparison to today's trends, because the advent of LED lighting has created an unprecedented revolution that Lightfair representatives described as "light and technology in a new language!" Why did LEDs become the Lightfair story? The LED lighting introduction started with LED's drastic lumen/watt advantage, followed by a lumen/dollar advantage. Even as these factors continued to improve (without significantly sacrificing color quality), the lighting industry remained hesitant because experts say the 30 SIGNS OF THE TIMES August 2016 overall lighting quality from LED lamps was not equivalent to traditional lighting. Although this remains true for many of today's applications, including some electric signage, LED's overall lighting quality is moving backstage. Interestingly, LED lighting and accompanying systems have now taken center stage because the marketing messages tout intelligent and efficient lighting as more important than the qualities of traditional lighting; because LED lamps exclusively offer optimal and cost-effective IoT links; and because manufacturers can build LED systems that create circadian-rhythm matching throughout the day. Beware of bubbles From a business perspective, the LED lighting story sounds revolutionary, because light, by nature, is virtually everybody's consumable resource; and, if this resource brings energy and cost savings along with enhanced lifestyle as well as health, who could argue against it? However, such pictures are often less than they first appear. Remember the dot-com and housing bubbles? The first, because the internet bandwidth was declared to be unlimited and inexpensive, allowed believers to open a profitable dot-com business. The second - housing - advised that everyone should buy not just bigger homes, but multiple homes as investments. Wall Street banks made it alluring - as did investment vehicles like collateral debt securities (known as higher derivative securities). Sadly, much of the world paid dearly for these disruptions. And, just as with previous avant-garde movements, the LED lighting suc- Dr. M. Nisa Khan As president of IEM LED Lighting Technologies, Dr. Khan consults in the solid state lighting industry and educates consumers about LED lighting. She has a bachelor's degree in physics and mathematics, and master's and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering. Email her at nisa.khan@iem-led.com cess story has two sides. I recommend new believers take proper cautions and conduct careful studies before venturing too far. Lighting industry embraces LEDs Most industry Lightfair participants, media included, tell of the great benefits of LED lighting in terms of synergy with IoT, color tunability, higher efficacy and a color-rendering index over 95, as well as the freedom to design luminaires to fit various architectural forms that aren't possible with traditional lamps. These tellings include declarations from Osram representatives who say their LED tubular and nostalgic, vintage glowing lamps offer a slew of benefits while offering the exact same light distribution as do their fluorescent and incandescent counterparts. Other declarations include Eaton Lighting's Kandice Cohen, a Revolution in Lighting Control Systems seminar speaker who claimed that the tunable LED troffers available today should not be installed without light-adjustmentcontrol units because that asset would substantially increase the value. In addition, Acuity Brands' Dr. David DiLaura, in the seminar "A History of Light and Lighting," said LED lamps now produce light in all different directions just as traditional lamps do. This is accomplished by placing the tiny individual LEDs at various directions, he said. LED science, technology, math and time may differ At a quick glance, these claims and descriptions may seem valid, but they aren't the complete story. Inorganic LEDs come in small

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Signs of the Times - August 2016

Signs of the Times - August 2016
Contents
ST Update
Technology Update
Why You Should Invest in a Color-Management Device
Vinyl Apps
Strictly Electric
LED Update
Software Update
Technology Review - Epson SureColor S80600
Technology Review - The AXYZ Trident
Shop Ops
Sign Museum News
New Products
Digging Deep
Writing on the Wall
Dostoevsky and the Crane Truck
Penn State Study Assesses Font Legibility
A Crossroads Celebration
Advertising Index
Editorially Speaking

Signs of the Times - August 2016