A device to reproduce a natural scene under constant and defined lighting conditions

Test charts are used to test digital cameras and to performobjective measurements. But there are certain aspects in testinga camera that require a real scene. One of these aspects is thecorrect white balancing for different types of illuminants. anotheraspect might be the determination of the visual loss of detail dueto noise reduction or the amount of noise in an image. You can dotests with real scenes for yourself, but how to make these testscomparable over time? Or between different work groups whenthey are located in different parts of the world?

We have developed the lightSTUDIO to make this possible. Itprovides the standard types of illumination and is large enoughto illuminate a whole table top scene. It also allows remotecontrol and the dimming of the lights from a PC using a USB interface.

In order to get a worldwide comparison between labs the lightSTUDIO comes with the entire interiour shown on the picture below. Each object was carefully chosen based on our experience in camera testing and can provide you interesting information about your camera system.

In 2012 the lightSTUDIO with its interior objects and the switchable light sources has developed to one of our top selling products. It is well on the way to becoming the industry standard for a camera test scene that can be illuminated with 6 different light sources at adjustable light levels.

    Optional LED light head

Now we have gone even further. Starting appr. late summer 2013the light head can be exchanged for an lEd based one that uses20 narrow band lEd channels and 2 white lEd channels tospectrally match almost every standard light source. The lEdsare combined to units of 80 lEds on a 10 x 10 cm area and amultiple of these can be combined to form larger light sources.

    Optional moving targets (with rack)

Most devices feature still photography and video functionalitynowadays. In order to compare compression technologies,artifacts, motion blur and other aspects in video the lightSTUDIOcan be equipped with moving targets. One of these is ahorizontally moving frame that can hold a variety of targetsincluding a dead leaves or a slanted edge one. The speed of themotion is adjustable up to 3 m/s.

A second movable section is a rotating plate on the back wallof the box which also allows for adjusting the speed (up to 600rpm). It can carry a sector chart or any kind of custom chart. Inorder to stabilize the whole setup with moving parts the optionfor moving targets also comes with a rack, on which the box ismounted.

     HDR option

Another aspect that is important for modern digital camerasis the ability to capture high contrast scenes. In order to reallycreate a high contrast scene it is necessary to add some backilluminated test patterns or images to the box. Two LG2 lightboxes with transparent charts are used for this purpose. In orderto avoid stray light, which reduces the contrast in the foreground,the light boxes are placed in the back of a surrounding black box.

This box is inserted in the center part of the back wall of thelightSTUDIO. That way contrast ratios of more than 10.000:1 canbe reached.