Conventional lighting fixture industry was not as changeable as it is now. Steve Chiu, a 22-year-experienced lamp producer and General Manager of Davinci Lighting, shared his insights and opinions on lighting fixture industry on LEDforum 2013 Taipei.

Speciality of Commercial Spaces

Picking up commercial lighting in Europe and America as his topic, Chiu explained some basic ideas of lighting for commercial spaces. Generally speaking, hotel, shops, restaurants, department stores and museums are all commercial spaces and they need different lighting conditions yet they share an aim in common: attracting customers. By lighting design, a commercial space can prompt customers’ interests to walk in and buy some services. It is not exaggerating to say that light is the key to create a perfect commercial atmosphere.

Basically, shopping malls and convenient stores need uniformity to wash all goods in sufficient brightness while boutiques usually prefer using contrast light to create specific areas for customers to focus on. For hotels and restaurants, it is required to have an amusing and relaxing feel so customers can enjoy their time. Art works collected in museums and galleries have to be prevented from exposure under strong light, but they have to be shown in a dramatic style by adequate lighting as well. Various lighting conditions are applied onto different spaces and all details such as CRI, CCT, LUX, glares and contrast have to be controlled by extremely precise ways.

LED and Lamps

“We don’t talk about quantities like LED manufacturers,” said Chiu in the interview. “I am a traditional lamp producer, just like an old-style artisan. An artisan cares about art and perfection, but LED manufacturers care about technology and quantity.” He pointed out the rise of LED and its influence on traditional lighting fixture industry, expressed his opinions: “LED is a revolutionary fact to traditional industry for its wide range of colors and performances.” Also, he mentioned that LED technology keeps changing all the time and lamp manufacturers have no reasons to ignore this progress. This is truly challenging for lamp manufacturers as lamps can’t be modified as soon as a new LED technology is developed; however, this is an opportunity because LEDs are more flexible for designers to create their situations they want.

Although it is not easy to predict what will come next in the LED industry, there are some basic rules, such as specific color temperatures, lumen and CRI, that lamp manufacturers can follow. “These are some standards that never change,” explained Chiu. “It is true that we need to apply different kinds of lamps to different situations or spaces, but our requirement to quality of light is always the same.” As the LED technology changing, lamp manufacturers are still able to produce their lighting products following some fundamental principles. And, emphasized by Chiu, this is the only way to avoid getting lost in the changeable industry.

Future of Lighting Industry

Innovation of new lighting fixtures takes time but LED technology waits for no one --  Chiu found the dilemma between these two closely related industries. “Of course we can’t apply on technology two or more years ago, but it’s also impossible to develop new lighting products using every top discovery.” How to pave a way for future of lighting fixtures? Chiu noted that, on one hand, lamp manufacturers have to catch up with the newest trend brought by big enterprises; on the other hand, a reliable brand image is necessary to be built. “We have to move as close as we can to the newest technology,” said Chiu.

Besides, combination with controlling and communication system is definitely the future of lighting fixtures. As Chiu mentioned above, it’s required to set different lighting conditions for different spaces and scenes, and the most applicable way to do this is changing lighting arrangement by those two kinds of systems. Now, lighting design is an interdisciplinary industry that includes science, technology, senses of beauty, psychology and humanities; lighting is more than just being lit something / somewhere up but about creation of a space. “We have to get rid of the old idea that all we lamp manufacturers have to do is brightness and move into a new thought,” stressed Chiu. “We need new lighting fixtures that combine LED technology, controlling system and intelligent device. Through combination, it’s possible for us to have a new vision.” And that is the future for lighting fixture industry, concluded by Chiu.