Table Light intensity

mortuarymike-nv said:
Small lighting source leave hard shadows with sharp edges like the sun ( hard lighting )
large light or reflected light or scattered light doesn't leave a shadow.


All lighting that is
Emitted ( Continuous Florescent Lighting ) ( CFL ) is polarized light.
Scattered (Clouds, light passing through cloth or paper, dust smoke)
Refracted ( Light passing through Glass water plastic ).
Reflected ( light that has been bounced off of anything) Like the moon.
The light now has Electromagnetic polarized Waves attached to it like a parasite,

So if you have a reflector or a light softener under your pool table lighting then your lighting is now Polarized light.
To be exact electromagnetic Polarized wave's. ( EMPW ).
When EMPW strike all non metallic smooth surfaces it creates Electromagnetic polarized reflection AKA ( Glare )

There is also direct reflection and UV reflection and the study of light which could be talked about for decades...

For any reason you feel that you have a reflection or glare issue , you can stretch linear polarized film over or actually under your lighting and it will remove the glare from the pool balls and rails .......

http://www.polarization.com/polarshop/

Just info.............
Click to expand...

I don't quite understand this, but that's ok....

Question: If I build a light box with the following components in order from the ceiling to the table:

1. Light source
2. Polarizing film
3. Grate

Will the light be polarized when it leaves, and be the good way not to cause glare? Or does that polarizing film have to be the last thing and closest to the table?

Thanks.
 
mortuarymike-nv said:
The light now has Electromagnetic polarized Waves attached to it like a parasite,

Just info.............
Click to expand...

What the...

Light IS electromagnetic waves.
Light can be polarized (all those waves going the same direction) or not.
Putting light through a polarizer will make it polarized (or rather will filter all the light not in line with the polarizer).

Nothing attaches to light like a parasite. CFL = Compact Fluorescent Light

Thank you kindly.

p.s. Apologies if this was just a bizarre confusing metaphor, or joke that I missed.
 
Last edited:
Light

iusedtoberich said:
I don't quite understand this, but that's ok....

Question: If I build a light box with the following components in order from the ceiling to the table:

1. Light source
2. Polarizing film
3. Grate

Will the light be polarized when it leaves, and be the good way not to cause glare? Or does that polarizing film have to be the last thing and closest to the table?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

The Light has to pass through the linear polarized film last.

Light
Grate or what ever you are going to use the soften the light
Then the linear polarized film.
Light
grate
film
http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/light/U12L1e.cfm

I use this technic in photography when I photograph pool cues and pocket chalker's.
You can see the linear film on the bottom of the soft box.



Because the light source is big now, I am not casting hard shadows.


Ps When I said electromagnetic polarized waves are attacked to the light like a parasite was a very crude example .
Its a lengthy study .
This is just info on light and the scientist still argue with each other over it.
 
mortuarymike-nv said:
The Light has to pass through the linear polarized film last.

Light
Grate or what ever you are going to use the soften the light
Then the linear polarized film.
Light
grate
film
http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/light/U12L1e.cfm

I use this technic in photography when I photograph pool cues and pocket chalker's.
You can see the linear film on the bottom of the soft box.



Because the light source is big now, I am not casting hard shadows.


Ps When I said electromagnetic polarized waves are attacked to the light like a parasite was a very crude example .
Its a lengthy study .
This is just info on light and the scientist still argue with each other over it.
Click to expand...

Great photos, and thanks for the info. I used to be assigned the task of photographing my wife's jewelry, and getting glare-free lighting was a big problem.
 
So, my free app suddenly started to crash on me, so I bought a light meter app and took some readings. I also repaired my Gossen light meter. The is a bit of a discrepancy between them.

- The Gossen (which I trust completely) gave a reading of 700 lux in the center of the table, and 350 at the corners. See photo below (EV 7 @ ASA 50 = 700 lux). This is with three 23W (100W equivalent) 2 year-old CFLs, hung 36" above the table bed.

- the iPhone app gave a reading of 325 lux in the center and 195 in the corners.

I also used the Gossen to spot meter the cloth at the center and at the corners, and found that they were a full stop apart (twice as much light in the center), which is exactly what the ambient reading showed.

I don't know about other apps folks are using, but both of mine gave wildly different figures than my tried and true professional light meter.
 

Attachments

  • Table Light Meter Reading.jpg
    Table Light Meter Reading.jpg
    51.7 KB · Views: 300
Sloppy Pockets said:
Great photos, and thanks for the info. I used to be assigned the task of photographing my wife's jewelry, and getting glare-free lighting was a big problem.
Click to expand...


So for a pool table do you align the polarization filter with the long dimension of the pool table or the short. And why? You are going to be looking in all directions.

Thank you kindly.
 
Corwyn_8 said:
So for a pool table do you align the polarization filter with the long dimension of the pool table or the short. And why? You are going to be looking in all directions.

Thank you kindly.
Click to expand...

I align it with the long dimension because it helps me with long shots.

JK. I actually don't have a clue what you are asking, or why you are asking me. :confused:
 
I'm also more interested in this polarizing film. To my knowledge, none of the commercial pool table lights have this film. Is that correct?

If so, do they not have it because the manufactures don't know about it? Or because of its cost? Or because the manufacturer's have tried it and don't think the consumer will pay a premium for it?
 
iusedtoberich said:
I'm also more interested in this polarizing film. To my knowledge, none of the commercial pool table lights have this film. Is that correct?

If so, do they not have it because the manufactures don't know about it? Or because of its cost? Or because the manufacturer's have tried it and don't think the consumer will pay a premium for it?
Click to expand...

Good question. And one step further...if Diamond has not introduced it into their lighting equipment, do they think its not that big a deal? Maybe they use it on the tv table lighting at accu-stats?

Here's to hoping some more insiders chime in with some answers.
 
Go with the LED flat panels. The coverage is excellent and you can have them up and running in about an hour. Plus for a home table they'll last probably longer than the table. Plug, play, and then forget about them.

Here's a couple of pics from a recent installation in a room in Japan. Great coverage and very easy on the eyes. For Japan this is a different look because they don't usually have table lights there, but all the players in the room love these.

12356923_1650989025189958_7268372256249173060_o.jpg


12339490_1650989045189956_7436349735490668850_o.jpg
 
The Iphone apps are not very accurate. If you really want to measure the lighting you can pick up a light meter on Amazon for $20 that is reasonably accurate. I am a lighting sales professional and can tell you that the guidelines given are generalities to try to cover a pretty broad need. If you are happy with the lights and not getting eye strain or being not able to see the balls well I then I would be worried. To further complicate manners the IES now has a much wider range of acceptable lighting levels due to age related vision changes. Those over 65 need 2X as much light as the 20 somethings do.

If you want simplified math a foot candle is one lumen over one square foot. For an example if you needed 50 foot candles average over a 4X8 table you would need 1600 lumens coming from your fixture to hit your table surface aimed properly (without spilling light in adjoining areas). Fluorescent T8 lamps have 3000 lumens and even taking into account depreciation from the lamp. ballast, and fixture design a 2 lamp T8 should do well.

Many manufacturer sites (Acuity, GE, and Cooper) have lighting layout tools you can use to estimate based on the space you are trying to light. I work for GE and the only layout tools we have are for LED fixtures but believe Acuity has Fluorescent fixtures on theirs.

Feel free to PM me with any questions. I try to help and but from times past I get flamed about polarizing filters, etc. I call on many of the largest Architectural design firms and have designed around critical artwork and can tell you have never seen or sold polarizing.
 
GrayBeard said:
This makes me wonder if the lights you have are the equivalent of the LED replacements for T8 bulbs that I have seen.
Has anyone tried replacing their fluorescent bulbs with LED replacements?
Click to expand...

I put some in mg garage and it makes a big difference in cold weather. In conditioned spaces a good LEd tube will be as bright as a T8. The benefit of LED is longer life and a little less wattage. Quality on tubes vary greatly. Would stick with the big 3 (GE, Phillips, Osram) or Cree.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top