Subjective and objective assessment on LED lighting quality for museum showcases

Nowadays, the use of Solid State Lighting (SSL) in museum interior design, and in particular in showcases, is becoming increasingly more frequent. According to a proper object fruition and visual comfort, lighting systems within showcases should provide high colour rendering, appropriate light quantity and distribution, as well as avoiding glare and visual distraction effects. Nevertheless their impact on visual perception is not completely known, due to dramatic differences from traditional lighting technology. This paper presents the results of an experimental study on testing the performance of several LED lighting systems inside typical museum showcases. The main goal of the research was to assess the lighting quality perceived by visitors for LEDs with different colour temperature, spatial arrangement and illuminance level on exhibits inside the showcase. The assessment of lighting and visibility conditions was focused on objective and subjective measurements, respectively based on luminance measurements and questionnaire’s delivery.