Block Color temperature control

With this control element a dimmer + color temperature is controlled. A color temperature control is a function that is used in many lighting and display systems to adjust the color rendering. It allows control over the color temperature, which influences the perceived "warmth" or "coolness" of the light or screen. See also Presence in general.

The control element is available in two different views, Block and Basic Screen. Depending on the design of the visualization, the element is shown in the following two variants:

The Play or Pause icon indicates whether the color temperature control is activated. With a click on the icon the control dialog is shown.

With the setting "Switch in Basic Screen" the light can be switched on/off with a short click on the element. Otherwise the operation dialog is shown. The setting is only offered in the Basic Screen view and only takes effect there.

In the Block view the switch does not switch the lighting but the automatic mode of the Color light control - it writes to the input Automatic of the function block. A click on the remaining area of the element shows the operation dialog.

The brightness can be set continuously via the circle. A click on the center of the circle toggles between 0% and 100%, with +/- it can be adjusted by 1% each. With the slider the value for the color temperature in Kelvin is set.

With the lower elements preset values can be recalled. These can also be changed. To store new values, set the corresponding values and click long on the element, after 2 seconds the value is saved. Both the brightness and the color temperature are saved.

The button with the Play or Pause symbol switches the automatic mode on and off, see section Color light control. If the output Operating time of the function block is connected, the accumulated switch-on time is shown in hours.

In the title bar of the dialog the functions Time switch, Presence, Settings and Color light control are accessible via the respective icons.

Time switch

With the Time switch function the automatic mode of the color light control is switched on and off time-controlled. For each switching time Active or Inactive is set under Value. The time switch therefore does not specify a brightness or a color temperature - these come from the table of the color light control. To add a new switching time, press the symbol at the bottom left, to delete switching times, click on the symbol at the bottom right.

Using the calendar icon in the switching time list, switching times can be imported from a calendar file (iCal, *.ics) - via a link (including Google Calendar, Apple iCloud, Google Drive and Dropbox), from a file or from the clipboard. One on (value 1) and one off (value 0) switching time are created per event. For details on the import see Block Time switch; where to find the calendar links in the respective services is described in the help of the Holiday time clock.

In the first row the symbols for clock type and presence are shown. On the left side the clock type is set. As type Week clock, Date and Sunrise/Sunset can be selected. On the right side it is set when the clock should be active (dark background is active).

On the right side it is set when the switching time should be active. Present, Absent and Holiday. This way it can for example be selected that a switching time is only executed when you are present, but not when Absent or on Holiday. If none of the three symbols is active, the switching time is not executed, in the overview the clock is then shown as deactivated.

Under Execute, once or always can be selected. With once, after execution the symbols Present, Absent and Holiday are deactivated again and thus the switching time is also deactivated.

If the brightness input of the function block is linked, switching times of type weekly clock offer an additional Brightness setting that determines when the switching time is executed: Always, When bright or When dark. The corresponding thresholds are defined in the settings under Brightness. Without a linked brightness input the selection is not shown and the switching time is always executed.

The configured time is the earliest possible switching moment. If the condition is already fulfilled at that time (for example it is already dark at 19:00), switching happens immediately. If it is not yet fulfilled, the switching time is queued and executed as soon as bright or dark is detected - in the example only at nightfall. The queued switching time expires after six hours; if it does not get dark by then, no switching takes place. It is also discarded as soon as another switching time of the same element is executed - the more recent switching time always takes precedence. The brightness is checked every ten seconds. If Execute: Once is set as well, the switching time is only used up after it has actually switched.

Presence

Via this dialog the control can be set when the Presence status changes. For example when switching from Present to Absent or Holiday, in the above example the control is switched off. When switching from Absent to Present the control is switched on, but only when it is dark.

For each of the three states Present, Absent and Holiday it is set via the respective symbol whether a value should be executed when switching to this state (dark background is active).

Value: Switches the color temperature control to Active or Inactive when switching to the respective state.
Execute: Defines when the value is executed: Always, If bright or If dark. This selection is only shown when the input Brightness is connected at the function block.

Tip: The setting Dark or Bright is only shown when the input Brightness is connected at the function block. The threshold for Dark/Bright is defined in the settings.

Settings

Settings are made via this dialog.

Brightness

This setting is only available when a value is connected at the input of the function block. Here two thresholds define from when on a distinction is made between Bright and Dark. This switching threshold applies to all settings on the control element in which Bright/Dark can be selected.

Threshold bright: If the measured brightness (in Lux) exceeds this value, it is considered bright.
Threshold dark: If the measured brightness falls below this value, it is considered dark.

Presence simulation

The presence simulation can be used to switch the light on/off during absence to simulate that the building is inhabited and thus deter potential burglars. The light is here switched on/off randomly.

With the symbols for Present, Absent and Holiday it is set whether the simulation should be started. In the above example the right symbol Holiday has a dark background, so the simulation is started as soon as switching to Holiday.

Start / End: With Start and End the time is set during which the simulation is active.
Start only when dark: With this setting (Yes/No) the simulation only starts when darkness is also detected at the start time. For this the input Brightness must be connected at the function block. The threshold when Bright / Dark is detected is set in the Brightness section.
Count from/to: Here the number of switching operations can be set. The number is randomly varied within this range and also randomly distributed over the time from/to.
Duration from/to: Here the duration of the switching operations in minutes can be set. The duration is randomly varied within this range.

Switch-on time / Maintenance

In the Switch-on time section it can be set after which operating time a maintenance is due. For example when the light should be checked. Once the operating time is reached, this is indicated by a yellow symbol on the control element.

Switch-on time: Shows the currently accumulated operating time in hours (not editable).
Maintenance after: Operating time in hours after which the maintenance indication is triggered.
Reset counter: With the button Reset the accumulated switch-on time is set back to 0, e.g. after maintenance has been carried out.

Color light control

The color light control adjusts brightness and color temperature of the lighting automatically over the course of the day. It reproduces how daylight changes: warm, subdued light in the morning, bright and cool light around noon, warm and subdued light again towards the evening. The background is that the color of light affects people - cool, bluish light has an activating effect, warm light a calming one. Anyone who spends a lot of time in rooms without daylight gets a light progression from such a curve that resembles the natural one. In building technology the term "Human Centric Lighting" is also common for this.

The prerequisite is a luminaire whose brightness and color temperature can be controlled separately - usually a ballast designated "Tunable White". The color temperature is given in Kelvin: small values (about 2000 K) produce warm, reddish light, large values (about 8000 K) cold, bluish light. The range the luminaire actually supports is stated in its data sheet.

How the curve is calculated

The table has one row for every full hour of the day, that is 24 supporting points. For each supporting point a brightness in percent and a color temperature in Kelvin are stored. Between two supporting points the controller interpolates in a straight line, so there are no jumps at the full hour. Example: if 3000 K is set for 06:00 and 4000 K for 07:00, then 3500 K is output at 06:30. The values are updated every minute. The supporting point for 23:00 is followed by the one for 00:00 again, so the curve continues across midnight.

The calculated values go to the outputs Percent and Color temperature K of the function block - the same outputs that are also written when operating by hand. A row with 0 % therefore switches the lighting off during that time.

Switching the automatic mode on and off

Values are only calculated and output as long as the input Automatic of the function block is not equal to 0. If it is 0, the color light control does not touch the outputs and the lighting stays as it was last set. The state is shown on the control element with the symbol Play (automatic mode on) or Pause (automatic mode off). It is toggled via:

the switch in the Block view,
the button with the Play/Pause symbol in the operation dialog,
the Time switch - each switching time executes Active or Inactive,
the Presence - when changing to Present, Absent or Holiday,
any other place in the program that writes to the input Automatic.

As long as the automatic mode is switched on, values set by hand are overwritten by the curve at the next minute at the latest. If operation by hand is intended, the automatic mode has to be switched off beforehand.

Setting the table

The table is set in this dialog. It is longer than the screen and is moved by dragging or with the mouse wheel.

Brightness: Light value in percent that should be active at the set time. A click on the value opens the input.
Kelvin: Color temperature in Kelvin that should be active at the set time. A click on the value opens the input.
Arrow down: Copies brightness and color temperature of this row into the row below. This keeps a value the same over several hours quickly.
K.1 / K.2: Load a prepared curve after a confirmation prompt. K.1 is a daytime curve: it starts warm and subdued at 06:00, reaches its highest and coldest value around noon and falls off again until 18:00; outside this time it is set to 0, so the lighting stays off at night. K.2 fills all 24 hours and leaves the lighting on at a small value during the night as well. Both curves are meant as a starting point and are adapted to the installation afterwards.
Save: Transfers the table into the controller. If the dialog is left without saving, the changes have no effect.

Values from 0 to 100 percent and from 0 to 10000 Kelvin can be entered. The table is not limited by the parameters Kelvin min. and Kelvin max. - these only limit the slider in the operation dialog. Make sure therefore that the table does not contain a color temperature the luminaire cannot reproduce.

Like all other settings of the control element, the table is stored in the controller and is retained across a restart.

Configuration

First create the corresponding function block and connect the variables, right-click on the control element and select the function block to link the control element.

Presence is linked with the corresponding logic block, see function block Structured Block Color temperature control, Standalone without link. With Presence the variables are linked with the function block, see also Presence in general. First create the corresponding function block and connect the variables, right-click on the control element and select the function block to link the control element.

Display
Display	Display Block or Basic Screen.
Text	Text to be shown. The size of the text is automatically scaled with the control element. Line breaks can be inserted with the special character "\n", for example "Line1\nLine2", a maximum of two lines can be specified.
Switch in Basic Screen	With this parameter the light is switched on a short click on the control element, on a long click the dialog is shown. The parameter is only offered for the display Basic Screen.
Scene selection	This parameter determines whether the element should be shown in the Scene group.
Kelvin min/max	Limitation for the color temperature slider in the operation dialog. Default is 0 to 10000 K. Set the range here that the luminaire supports. The values of the color light control table are not limited by this.
Connected variables See Block Color temperature control

See also General properties of all control elements