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Why viewing conditions matter
Assessing a print under artificial light and in the wrong ambient conditions can cause you to see the colours in the image incorrectly. Illumination temperature (°k) and quality (CRI) affect the actual colour you see. This can range from a neutral grey or skin tone looking warmer or cooler under different lighting, to a pair of colours appearing identical under one illumination and considerably different to each other under another.

This phenomenon is knows as metamerism. Even in everyday life we can see the problems metamerism causes; for example, a pair of items appearing to match under shop lighting, but not when viewed in daylight. Daylight is evenly balanced across the visual spectrum, meaning it has equal levels of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet ‘energy’. Artificial light does not have this; therefore colours are rendered more accurately in daylight.


How GrafiLite can help
Working near a window during daylight hours is one way to make sure you are assessing colours in the appropriate light. But what happens when it gets dark? Your source of natural light is gone, and once again you are faced with potential inaccuracy and inconsistency of colour. GrafiLite provides a convenient, portable source of simulated daylight, meaning you can benefit from daylight conditions anywhere at any time.

Remember, it is not just lighting conditions that can affect the appearance of colours; surrounding colours can affect your judgement too. With this in mind, the GrafiLite has been designed with a non-distractive, neutral grey lamp surround. Each GrafiLite is also supplied with a neutral viewing mat, providing a surface which will not affect the appearance of colours – meaning the colour of your desktop will not prejudice image assessment.

About OTT-Lite
GrafiLite is powered by OTT-Lite technology, developed through the pioneering research of Dr. John Nash Ott. Ott developed the first OTT-Lite product whilst filming the series The Secrets of Life for the Walt Disney Company, who went on to utilise his expertise when producing the animated masterpiece Cinderella.

A specially formulated blend of rare earth phosphors is used to create unique OTT-Lite illumination, which looks and feels like natural daylight. Now it is possible to see with superior quality without the intense heat, excessive glare and harsh distortion of standard lighting.

Colour confidence