Lighting Inspector
ChromaChecker Lighting Inspector — evaluating color appearance under multiple illuminants, calculating metamerism index, and verifying compliance with viewing-condition requirements.
Why Lighting Matters
A color that passes ΔE 2000 under D50 (the standard print viewing condition) may look visibly wrong under D65 (outdoor daylight) or A (incandescent store lighting). This phenomenon is called metamerism — two colors that match under one light source but diverge under another. Lighting Inspector makes metamerism visible, measurable, and reportable.
Critical for retail packaging: Brand colors often need to match under the specific lighting conditions of a retail environment. A print that is conformant under D50 can still fail in the actual sales context if the ink set or substrate creates metameric behavior.
What Lighting Inspector Measures
Metamerism Index (MI)
ISO 23603-compliant metamerism index between two user-selected illuminants — quantifies the degree of mismatch
Multi-illuminant ΔE
Displays ΔE values for the same measurement under D50, D65, A, F2, F7, F11 simultaneously
Color Appearance Shift
Visualises the L*a*b* shift of a color between illuminants as a vector in color space
Fleet Comparison
Compare metamerism behavior across multiple presses or ink systems for the same color target
Spectral Evaluation
Analyse the spectral reflectance curve to identify wavelength ranges driving metameric behavior
Pass/Fail per Illuminant
Define separate ΔE tolerance thresholds per illuminant — a color can pass D50 but fail D65
Supported Illuminants
Lighting Inspector calculates color appearance for all standard CIE illuminants supported by ChromaChecker:
- D50 — standard print viewing (ISO 3664)
- D65 — outdoor / general daylight
- D55, D75 — intermediate daylight conditions
- A — incandescent / tungsten
- F2 — cool white fluorescent
- F7 — broadband fluorescent (D65 simulator)
- F11 — narrowband fluorescent (TL84, common retail)
