Industry Insights: Balancing creativity and control in modern studio lighting

As studios evolve to meet the demands of virtual and hybrid production, lighting remains one of the most vital – and rapidly changing — elements in broadcast environments.

In this edition of Industry Insights, lighting gear vendors discuss how advances in LED technology, automation and energy efficiency are reshaping the way studios are designed, lit and maintained. Participants explore the balance between creative goals and technical performance, the return of harder, more focusable fixtures and the push toward intelligent, network-based systems.

From budget realities to the role of brand loyalty and service, the conversation illuminates the factors driving today’s upgrade cycles and how lighting continues to define the look and feel of modern broadcast storytelling.

Key takeaways from this Industry Insights roundtable

• LED evolution transforms control: Modern fixtures offer superior color accuracy, efficiency, and automation options that free creative teams from technical constraints.
• Brand choice remains strategic: Differences in engineering quality, service, and R&D focus continue to impact performance and reliability on set.
• Budgets often lag behind needs: Despite lighting’s visual importance, it’s frequently undervalued or bundled into set budgets without proper expertise.
• Hard light makes a comeback: Designers are rediscovering focusable fixtures to restore depth, dimension, and visual clarity in on-air looks.
• Integration drives the next wave: IP-based and automated lighting control systems are enabling smarter, faster, and more consistent studio operations.

What advancements in studio lighting have most impacted broadcast quality?

Kathy Katz, co-founder, Brightline Lighting: The quality and adjustability of LEDs’ color and the advancement of user-friendly, energy-conscious and safe lighting technologies that facilitate precise lighting control have liberated productions. Low-voltage, IP-addressable and PoE control options can provide automated or semi-automated environments, leaving more time available for creativity versus maintenance.

Does the brand of light matter anymore?

Dave Polcyn, sales manager, BB&S Lighting: Yes, brand absolutely matters; there are significant quality differentiators between brands like color rendering, white light performance, and overall engineering. Some manufacturers excel at specific light types, and their flagship products often reflect that focus. Everything from design to function to ease of use matters, and all manufacturers approach these issues with different priorities and understanding this will help you make a better choice in meeting your lighting goals.

Kathy Katz, co-founder, Brightline Lighting: Indeed, more than ever. With the urgent nature of broadcast, produced within a dynamic and often fluid environment, the commitment of the people behind the brand parallels the importance of the brand’s technical innovations. In the constantly evolving and demanding world of broadcast, nothing less than a company with an extreme customer service ethos will do. Companies that favor aggressive R&D may be best suited to provide creative and performance advantages.

How has studio lighting design changed? For the better or worse?

Dave Polcyn, sales manager, BB&S Lighting: Studio lighting design has evolved alongside changes in studio spaces — smaller footprints, tighter budgets, and a need for more versatile, automated solutions. It’s less about better or worse and more about adapting design to new functional demands.

Are broadcasters still prioritizing a proper budget for studio lighting and lighting design?

Dave Polcyn, sales manager, BB&S Lighting: Typically, no. Lighting is frequently underbudgeted, as it’s now commonly outsourced, leading to less internal understanding of its needs and requirements. Set designers may also stretch the lighting budget by utilizing broad “one-stop” packages, making it an afterthought rather than a priority.

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Kathy Katz, co-founder, Brightline Lighting: Usually when a new set or a significant set change is deployed, or a new facility built, a reasonable lighting budget accompanies the set budget. When efficient, broadcasters will repurpose existing equipment to light new sets. Many broadcasters upgrade existing fixtures through retrofits to complement scenic changes. Working with a well coordinated team that may include a scenic company, lighting director, integrator, AV programmer, and manufacturer can deliver excellent results. 

What is driving upgrade cycles and purchasing decisions in lighting?

Dave Polcyn, sales manager, BB&S Lighting: Upgrade cycles are driven by aging fluorescent and early-generation LED fixtures, many of which are now obsolete or underperforming. New builds and the rise of small, in-house studios (corporate, institutional, and podcast) are also fueling demand, especially among users new to studio-style production.

Kathy Katz, co-founder, Brightline Lighting: To some degree, the lack of availability of components for legacy systems forces broadcasters to seek new lighting systems. Many fluorescent ballasts and lamps have been discontinued by their manufacturers, and certainly most professional incandescent sources can no longer be serviced. Some facilities react to mandates to embrace more efficient technologies based on cost savings and environmental reasons. Historically, lighting changes accompany set changes, and set changes proliferate during ownership consolidation. With potential deregulation in the broadcast industry, anticipate an increase in acquisitions by dominant broadcast groups. 

Kevin Lu, product manager, Ikan: Studio lighting upgrade decisions are driven by dramatic energy savings (60-90% reductions in lighting costs), extended equipment lifespans (LED fixtures lasting 25,000-50,000 hours versus 200 hours for tungsten), and operational efficiency gains through simplified workflows and reduced setup times. ROI calculations favor LED upgrades with payback periods of 12-18 months through combined energy savings, reduced maintenance costs, and lower HVAC requirements since LEDs generate virtually no heat. Future-proofing through IP-based integration enables studios to leverage existing network infrastructure for automation capabilities, with Ikan’s PoE++ technology providing single-cable solutions that support both power delivery and DMX control protocols

Are new studio installs going with more flat panel soft lights or traditional fixtures like fresnels?

Dave Polcyn, sales manager, BB&S Lighting: While flat panel soft lights saw a surge in popularity, many studios are returning to harder, more focusable fixtures to regain visual depth and dimension. Over-reliance on soft lights can lead to flat, uniform images that lack impact. Using key lighting helps refocus attention on talent and improves overall image quality.

Kathy Katz, co-founder, Brightline Lighting: The best designs mix lighting tools with the fixture choice being influenced by both the scenic and creative goal, as well as the most efficient fixture approach to the specific set application. Scenic designers, lighting designers, and manufacturers should work hand-in-hand with broadcast clients to cohesively and efficiently deliver their vision. While a panel light might be most efficient to wash a large area with even light, a news anchor in front of an interactive LED screen needs tight, well-controlled lighting that cuts off sharply to avoid spill that can create distracting glare on the screen.

What considerations are essential when upgrading to automated lighting control systems?

James Tian, CEO, Ikan: Automation consideration is critical from a human adoption perspective – while upfront automation costs are higher, the dramatic reduction in learning curves justifies the ROI by enabling both technical and non-technical employees to confidently operate professional studio equipment, leading to greater system utilization and faster return on investment.

How do broadcast studios manage color consistency and temperature control with modern lighting setups?

Dave Polcyn, sales manager, BB&S Lighting: Color consistency and temperature control are often overlooked, especially with budget fixtures that produce uneven white light and inconsistent colors. For broadcast, it’s critical to use lights that excel at one thing — delivering high-quality white light across 3200-5600K. Matching monitors and LED walls is also critical, and too often you see either the talent look good, or the monitor look good, but not both.

Kevin Lu, product manager, Ikan: Broadcast studios achieve color consistency through standardized CCT tolerances within ±100K between fixtures and TLCI scores above 90 for television-grade lighting, while using spectroradiometer testing to verify uniformity across all equipment. Temperature control flexibility is provided through variable CCT ranges like Ikan’s 2700K-6500K capability, enabling precise matching to different camera preferences and production requirements. Automated Q-SYS integration eliminates traditional hour-long pre-tuning sessions by storing preset configurations for different presenters and skin tones, dramatically improving workflow efficiency while maintaining broadcast-quality standards.

What else should we be talking about?

Kathy Katz, co-founder, Brightline Lighting: How AI’s further integration into production and content might affect how and where broadcasts originate, and how lighting technologies will need to adapt to support the evolution. If content can be provided from a myriad of sources, real and virtual, what technologies will be employed to ensure a cohesive programming look. If virtual anchors replace and/or interact with human news anchors, what adjustments to their lighting and lighting programming will be needed to support the illusion.

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