Emphasising materials with light

Directed light with various incident angles enables the modelling of materials.

Diffuse light

With diffuse light, material surfaces have no modelling caused by shadows. Brilliance cannot be achieved with diffuse lighting either. As a result, glossy surfaces do not achieve a high-quality impression. Diffuse light is generated for example if only indirect lighting is used or by using ceiling panel lights.

60° angle of incidence

A light incident angle of 60° hardly models the structure of surfaces. Directed light achieves fundamental brilliance though and lends a high-quality appearance to glossy materials. Any reflected glare for observers should however be avoided. Spotlights are some of the typical luminaires for this method of lighting.

30° angle of incidence

Directed light with an incident angle of 30° achieves good modelling due to shadows. Glossy materials are also given a quality appearance with this luminaire configuration. Spotlights are ideal for this application but downlights can also achieve this angle with short distances from the wall, this creates scallops on the wall that are seen as parabolic pattterns.

5° angle of incidence

Grazing light with an incident angle of around 5° generates intensive shadowing. This causes strong modelling on the surface even with fine textures. With glossy surfaces the occurrence of reflected glare should be taken into account. If walls are uneven, extreme shadowing effects should be critically assessed to avoid emphasising any quality deficiencies in the surfaces.