Effect of Interior Chromaticness on Space Brightness

To design a lighting environment, horizontal illuminance is generally used as the brightness of a room. But it is reported that a subjective brightness does not always match the horizontal illuminance. For example, the room furnished with high saturated colored objects is perceived brighter than the room furnished with achromatic objects, even though the horizontal illuminance is the same. To investigate a effect of interior chromaticness on space brightness, we conducted the experiment in four miniature rooms that were different in terms of chromaticness of interior decorating surfaces, but kept lightness of surfaces constant. Subjects were asked to set the illuminance of reference room, that is furnished with achromatic objects, to equate the brightness of the test room, that is with chromatic objects. Four of seven subjects needed less illuminance to get the equality of space brightness if the test room had a saturated objects. The illuminance ratio of test to reference room was about 1.4. Other three subjects set the illuminance of reference room almost equal to test room. Thus, there are differences between individuals so further work would be needed to estimate the quantitative effect of interior chromaticness on space brightness.