Light Meter Market

The light meter market was valued USD 284.3 Million in 2017 and is expected to reach USD 417.4 Million by 2023, at a CAGR of 6.47% during the forecast period.

This report provides the market size and future growth potential of the light meter market based on different segments such as display, type, lux range, application, and region. The prime objective of this report is to define, describe, segment, and forecast the light meter market, in terms of value, segmented on the basis of display, type, lux range, application, and region. Major factors driving the growth of this market include increasing demand for light meters in the photography and cinematography industry worldwide, regulations to improve workplace lighting, and government initiatives toward the standardization of lighting protocols.

By application, photography and cinematography to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period

The market for photography and cinematography is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. Optimum lighting plays a crucial role in photography and cinematography to get the desired photo or video. Advanced light meters offer the most innovative and advanced features in light meters, such as flash analyzing function, built-in wireless triggering, flash power control, radio frequency and compatibility, etc., which leads to the largest share of the light meter market for photography and cinematography.

By type, general-purpose light meters to hold the largest size of light meter market during the forecast period

The highest CAGR of the market for LED light meters is attributed to increasing government regulations worldwide to use energy-efficient lighting. Thus, increasing use of LED lighting solutions is expected to create the demand for specialized LED light meters. LED light meters can measure ambient and conventional light apart from the LED light. These light meters are useful in the measurement and optimization of the environmental light levels in a wide range of application areas, including office buildings, manufacturing plants and warehouses, university campuses, schools, and hospitals. General-purpose light meters may provide an inaccurate reading for LED light measurements. LED lights can be correctly read by using specialized LED light meters.

Americas to hold the largest market share of light meter market during the forecast period

The light meter market has been broadly segmented on the basis of region into the Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC), and Rest of the World (RoW). The Americas accounted for a major share of the light metermarket, along with APAC. Rapid technological advancements and a high degree of industrialization in APAC are expected to create huge opportunities for the growth of the light meter market in this region.

The key players operating in this market are FLIR Systems (FLIR Systems (Extech)) (US), Konica Minolta Sensing Americas, Inc. (Konica Minolta Sensing Americas) (US), Sekonic (Sekonic) (Japan), Testo SE & Co. among others. The players in this market have adopted various strategies to expand their presence globally and increase their market shares. Product launches is the major strategy adopted by the market players to grow in the light meter market.

Light Meter Market Dynamics

Driver: Increasing demand for light meters in the photography and cinematography industry worldwide

Light meters provide crucial information to photographers and cinematographers for their work. These devices provide a measurement of the exposure, recommends the shutter speed/aperture combination on the basis of the 18% gray standard. The light meters convert light into the functions/units in a camera and can even provide detailed charts and graphs on the quality and color of the lights being used. Generally, a light meter is a tool to check exposure settings for perfectly balanced images being produced. In cinematography, light meters are used to identify the quality of the light and also to deliberately choose an appropriate lighting condition for a particular scene.

Growing per capita disposable income of individuals worldwide and rising advertising expenditures have driven the growth of the photography and cinematography industry in the recent years. The advertising industry, especially involving the advertisements on billboards, magazines, and televisions, is continuously evolving industry worldwide. Light meters play a very crucial role to get effective output in these fields. Also, the growing demand for cinematography is expected to propel the use of light meters in this industry. The impact of this driver is presently high, considering the growth of the photography and cinematography industry in the recent years, and this factor is likely to have a same impact on the market in the upcoming years.

Restraint: Development of smartphone applications and light measuring devices to substitute light meters

Smartphones can also be used as light meters by installing various mobile applications. These mobile applications have been developed to enable iPhone and other smartphones to work as a light meter using their inbuilt camera as a light sensor. Megaman LuxMeter, LightMeter Whitegoods, and LuxMeterPro Advanced, among others, are a few examples of these mobile applications. However, a few challenges associated with the use of cameras as the light meter sensors commonly lead to the variability in output values while getting samples and displaying unstable and unalike readings, depending on the light received from the lamp or the focus point.

As a solution to this problem, devices such as “Luxi” have been developed. Luxi is a little and cheap device [costing close to euro 22 (~USD 27)]. It consists of a diffusion dome that fits over the iPhone’s camera. Luxi helps improve the reading stability, and depending on the installed app, the device leads to the recording to more reliable values as an output. “Lumu” is another substitutional device for light meters. This device has an inbuilt sensor and diffusion dome that plugs in the headphones jack and measures the light level directly, without the need of using the camera. Lumu costs about euro 95 (USD 117.20) and is available for both iPhone and Android phones. Lumu is equipped with a high-precision and wide-measuring range sensor, which provides highly precise results.

Opportunity: Convergence of IOT in lighting

The convergence of the Internet of Things (IoT) in lighting systems is expected to shape the future developments in the light meter market. With the evolution of IoT, a range of devices and sensors can now communicate wirelessly over the internet. The light meters that are deployed for light measurements are bound to be more self-governing and intelligent in sharing data with the building automation systems and, ultimately, the cloud. The cloud provides the administrative user interface, and the data analytics function analyzes the light intensity, access information, and utility data as well as the data related to historical lighting conditions. This helps the facility managers to make decisions on reducing or increasing lighting conditions. For instance, Philips Lighting Holding (Netherlands) is focusing on IoT-enabled lighting systems to power smarter cities, increase the efficiency of buildings, and enable innovative retail experiences by providing real-time data analytics from secure connected lighting systems and IoT. Thus, the convergence of IoT in lighting is expected to generate huge opportunities for the growth of the light meter market.

Challenge: Increasing number of manufacturers creating competitive pricing pressure

Light meter manufacturers have to continuously adapt to new technologies and develop the test and measurement (T&M) equipment due to fast innovations. The manufactured products need to meet the given specification and prevail in the competitive market, which increases the pricing pressure on manufacturers. The factors such as calibration, failure rate, and repair affect the price of an instrument. The calibration of any electronics instrument is essential to ensure the uniformity of the measurements conducted by it with the global standards of the corresponding measurements.
Calibration is required to either meet the specifications supplied by a manufacturer or rectify any deviations in the expected performance of an instrument. The process of calibration may lead to downtime in case of frequent calibration cycles of an instrument, which adds to the time and cost. The number of light meter manufacturers is continuously growing worldwide. Also, light meters are already available at relatively low costs in the market. Increasing availability of more innovative and cheaper light meter products is creating external pressure and posing a challenge for the manufacturers of light meters to sustain the competition in the market.

Light Meter Market Report Scope

The light meter market has been covered in detail in this report. To provide a holistic picture, the current market demand and forecasts have also been included in the report. The light meter market has been segmented as follows:

Light Meter Market by Display

• Analog
• Digital

Light Meter Market, by Type

• General-Purpose Light Meters
• LED Light Meters
• UV Light Meters

Light Meter Market, by Lux Range

• 0–200K Lux
• Above 200K Lux

Light Meter Market, by Application

• Photography and Cinematography
• Commercial Spaces
• Manufacturing Plants and Warehouses
• University Campuses and Schools
• Clinics and Hospitals
• Others

Light Meter Market, by Geography

• Americas
• Europe
• Asia Pacific (APAC)
• Rest of the World (RoW)

Key Market Players in Light Meter Market

Konica Minolta Sensing Americas (US), FLIR Systems  (US),  Sekonic (Japan),  Testo SE (Germany), Hioki (Japan), Amprobe (US), KERN & SOHN (Germany), B&K Precision (US), Line Seiki (Japan), PCE Deutschland (Germany), Hanna Instruments (US), Lutron Electronics (US), Kyoritsu Electrical Instruments Works (Japan), Martindale Electric (UK), TQC B. V. (the Netherlands), and KIMO Instruments (UK)

Konica Minolta Sensing Americas has a recognized brand name, innovative portfolio, and widespread strong global network of sales and services, distributors, and customers. The company has established strong business relationships with large customers across the world and is strategically focused on partnerships and acquisitions of its stakeholders to grow in the light meter market. The company is also keen to use the customer base of its other segments to promote its light meter products. Konica Minolta It has a major focus on acquiring more customers by exhibiting its light meter products in various countries.

Recent Developments

• In December 2015, Konica Minolta Sensing Americas launched CS-150 and CS-160 chroma meters, and LS-150 and LS-160 luminance meters. These meters are highly accurate and easy to use, and feature portable option for light measuring available in 1 and 1/3 degree spot acceptance angles to measure chromaticity and/or luminance values of various sources of reflected or emitted light.
• In November 2017, Extech Instruments launched the UV510 meter designed to measure ultraviolet (UV) radiation in the UVA range for the industrial process applications, UV commercial offset printing, archival preservation, and occupational exposure among outdoor workers.
• In November 2017, Sekonic launched the L-858D SPEEDMASTER series wireless bundle kit with the limited period offer. This offer helps company to add more value to the L-858D series and highlight the wireless control capabilities of these light meters.
• In August 2017, Testo launched a new monitoring system named “testo 160.” This monitoring system enables users to remotely control temperature, humidity, illuminance, UV radiation, and CO2 concentration. This system for the light illuminance has an alarm system designed for detecting if the illuminance level is exceeding the limits.
• In October 2017, Hioki launched the Lux Meter FT3425. This lux meter features the Bluetooth wireless technology for faster measurement and faster transmission of the data related to the same. Moreover, it also fulfills all regulations and compliances of Japanese Industrial Standard (JIS) and broad measurement capability from low to high illuminance.

Key Questions Answered

• Where will all these developments take the industry in the long term?
• What are the upcoming trends for the Light Meter Market?
• Which segment provides the most opportunity for growth?
• Who are the leading vendors operating in this market?
• What are the opportunities for new market entrants?

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