SoLux: Brilliance of Daylight 24/7
Good light allows your prints appear as beautiful as they can be. If your prints are viewed under improper light, all your efforts to make great prints may have just been sabotaged!
Attendees to the Epson Print Academy learned about a revolutionary light source. According to Kevin McGuire, the inventor, no other light source in the world matches daylight more closely than SoLux (incidentally, they arrived late and we had stolen their table so they had to get a new one).
SoLux is a patented new light bulb that simulates daylight far better than any other light bulb on the market. It is a high performance halogen type bulb (rated to last 4000 hours) that currently comes in the low voltage (12 volt) MR-16 format (2 pin socket). SoLux uses a multilayer thin film coating on the reflector to reflect the desired daylight spectrum forward and pass unwanted light out the back yielding the closest match to daylight.
Many galleries and museums use SoLux to insure that patrons are able to make accurate judgments on color and have a more colorful viewing experience. The Van Gogh Museum, the National Gallery of Art, the Library of Congress, and the Pete Turner Exhibit at the George Eastman House are just of few of the notable places that have turned to SoLux lights.
In addition to accurate color rendition, SoLux has been engineered to have very low heat (IR) output and ultra-low UV output. This means that with SoLux, you will have the brilliance of daylight without the negatives aspects of UV and IR. The result is a superior presentation that won’t cook or bleach the subject being illuminated.
Color Rendering Index (CRI) is one indicator of the ability to simulate daylight, and a CRI of 100 is considered perfect. SoLux bulbs have virtually perfect CRIs of over 98 and 99. This makes SoLux the best light available for seeing true colors.
Some light manufacturers market their bulbs as “full-spectrum” light sources. Full-spectrum can be a misleading term. Technically, a candle can be considered full-spectrum. What is implied is that the light provides ideal light for rendering colors. This can only really be determined by looking at the spectral power distribution graphs for a given light source. SoLux is the only daylight simulation product that emits a full and even spectral power distribution equivalent to daylight.
SoLux lights are also being used for reading, studying and to help suffers of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). The FDA issued a “Health Fraud Notice”, stating claims for a full-spectrum lamp were a “gross deception of the consumer”. Full-spectrum light sources often are no more than glorified incandescent and fluorescent light bulbs.
la_solux-cSoLux bulbs come in four different color temperature (3500K, 4100K, 4700K, & 5000K). Independent experts agree, the SoLux 4700K is the light that best simulates the D50 standard. The reason is the spectrum from the SoLux models D50 more accurately than any fluorescent “daylight” tube.
Photographers and other artists can set up their own affordable color proofing lighting system. Most 4-color printing and proofing houses, print studios, fine art printers as well as photographers, choose the SoLux 4700K light for critical color proofing. |
Download Technical Specifications PDF
Models Available
PROOFING / COLOR MATCHING
Solux 12 Volts 50 Watts 4700K
GALLERY LIGHTING
Solux 12 Volts 50 Watts 3500K |
