Photometry

Photometry
The
Themeasurement
measurementofofLight
Light
Electromagnetic waves are characterized by
their wavelength

Visible Light
 Fundamentals of Light
Light = Energy (radiant energy)
Readily converted to heat
Light shining on a surface heats the surface
Heat = energy
Light = Electro-magnetic phenomena
Has the characteristics of electromagnetic
waves (eg. radio waves)
Also behaves like particles (e.g.. photons)
 Measurement of Light
Photometry
Measurement of visible radiation in terms of sensitivity of the human eye.
Used in photography and in lighting performance
Photometric measures
Luminous intensity - Candela [cd]
Luminous Flux - Lumen [lm]
Luminance (cd/m2) - [nit]
Illuminance (lm/m2) - [lx]

Radiometry
Measurement of the properties of light without regard to human perception
Used for quantifying energy in radiation
Radiometric Measures

Radiant Flux - Watt (W) (rate of energy from source)

 Techniques & Types of Measurement
Techniques Types
Photometry & colorimetry At a surface
Radiometry

Quantities end with

irradiance or illuminance Light falling onto
areas of an object

Photometry + At a surface = Illuminance

unit: lux = lumen/m

Radiometry + At a surface = Irradiance

unit: Watt/m
 Techniques & Types of Measurement
Techniques Types
Photometry & colorimetry At the source
Radiometry

Quantities end with

radiance or luminance Light emitted from areas
within the source

Photometry + At a source = Luminance

unit: candela/m = lumen/(sr m)
Radiometry + At a source = Radiance
unit: Watt/(sr m)
 Quantities and Units
Photometry + Angular Intensity = Luminous
intensity
unit: candela = lumen/sr
Radiometry + Angular Intensity = Radiant intensity
unit: Watt/sr

Photometry + Total Flux = Total luminous flux

unit: lumen
Radiometry + Total Flux = Total radiant flux
unit: Watt
 Photometric Units
Luminous intensity is the luminous flux per unit solid
angle, light intensity within a very small angle in a specified
direction unit usually used is candela (candela = lumen per
steradian)
Luminous Flux (lumen): Light flux, irrespective of direction
from a source
1 lumen is the photometric equivalent the watt
1 watt = 683 lumens at 555 nm wavelength

Illuminance is the luminous flux per unit area, units usually

used are lux (lumen per meter2) or footcandle (lumen per ft2)
= lumens per sq. meter (lux) or per sq. foot (foot-candle)
Luminance: independent of the distance of observation =
candelas per sq. meter (nit)
Reflectance: percentage of light reflected from a surface
Ex. Mirrored glass = 90%; Black Paint = 3-5%
Solid Angle:
area
solid angle 2 r

The total solid angle around a point

is 4 (steradians).
One sphere contains 4 steradians
A sphere of radius 1m
has a surface area of 4 square meters.
Asphere= 4r2

Example:

Calculate the solid angle subtended at the center of a sphere,

radius 2 m, by an area of 2.5 m2 on the surface of the sphere.
Luminous Flux and Intensity:
Luminous flux : the rate at which light energy flows. Unit: lumen
One lumen is the luminous flux emitted into a unit solid angle (1 steradian)
from a point source of intensity 1 candela.

Luminous intensity of a source: I

I
For a specified direction:

d
I
d

mean spherical int ensity cd
Example:
4
A source of light has a mean spherical intensity of 20 cd. How much total
flux does it emit?
Example:
A source has an intensity of 250 cd in a particular direction. How much flux
is emitted per unit solid angle in that direction?
 Luminous Flux [lumen]
Flow of illumination ()
Measured in LUMEN (lm)
1 candle can produce a
flow of 1 lm/m2
= 4 I

1/683 watt emitted = 1 lumen

 Luminous Intensity - [candela]
point source
One of the Seven Base units in
the SI
Luminous intensity (I) is
measured in Candles candela
(cd)
Historically was the light from
the standard candle.
Currently 1/60 the output from
cm2 of Th2O3 at the freezing
point of platinum (1769 C)

1/683 watt emitted into 1 steradian

= 1 lumen/steradian
= 1 candela
 Luminous intensity (cd) &
Illuminance (lx) lux of a surface

Illuminance measures the effective light energy at a specific location from the
light source. It is important because distance has a huge impact on light
intensity.
Examples:
At 100 meters, a light of one candela has an illuminance of 0.01 lux.
To illuminate a square meter area at 1 lumen (one candle's light), a light at 100
meters must shine at 10,000 candelas.
 Inverse Square Law
Defines the relationship between illuminance from a point
source and distance
The intensity of light per unit area is inversely proportional
to the square of the distance from the source
The amount of light falling on a surface is inversely proportional to the
square of the distance to the source.

2 E = Iluminance
E = I/d
2
E1 d1 = E2 d2
2 I = Luminous intensity
d = distance
 Illumination
Illumination (E) measured in LUX (lx)
E = /A (lm/m2) E = I / d2 (cd /m2)
 Luminous Intensity (Candela)
Measurement of light output
Illumination 1 ft
of a point source
(ft candle) 1 ft
1 ft
Light striking the
surface D = 1 ft
1fC

1 f C = 1 lumen / ft2
Luminance Luminous Flux (Lumens)
(ft-Lambert) Rate light is emitted from a
Light Reflected source
From a surface

Illumination = Reflectance * Luminance

White Paper : 0.90
Newspaper: 0.55
Black Pain: 0.05 = A/r2 Solid angle in Steradians
= 4I Luminous Flux in Lumens
E = /A Illumination in Lux (lm/m2)
E = I/r2 Illumination in Lux (cd/m2)
The relationships among standard
photometric units
Illuminance: lm E
d
E
A m2 dA
The illuminance at a point on a surface does not depend on the nature of
the surface since it is only concerned with incident light.

d
d Id EI
dA
dA cos I
d E 2 cos
r2 r

Two laws:
The illuminance at a point on a surface is inversely proportional to the
square of the distance between the point and the source. This law applies
strictly only in the case of point sources.

The second is that if the normal to an illuminated surface is at an angle to

the direction of the incident light, the illuminance is proportional to the cosine
of .
 Example Problem-1
What is the illumination on a book located 2.5 meters
from a 50 cd light source?
Example Problem-2
A 25 cd source is placed in the center of a sphere
having a radius of 4.5 m. What is the luminous flux
on the surface of the sphere?

Example Problem-3
150 lx of illumination is needed to properly see a
given task. The ceiling in the room is 3.5 m from the
work table. What should the luminous intensity of
each of 6 lamps be in order to provide the light
needed?
 Photometry
Luminous Efficacy:
To describe the effectiveness of a source, two concepts are used:

luminous flux emitted lumens

luminous efficiency
total flux radiated lumens

luminous flux emitted by a lamp lumens

luminous efficacy
power consumed watts

Luminous efficiency indicates the fraction of total flux radiated that is

actually visible.
Luminous efficacy is the fraction of the total consumed power that is used
to emit the visible light. A large amount of energy can be wasted in the form
of heat or infrared radiation.
Photometer (visual):
Principle: If two adjacent identical white
reflecting surfaces appear to be equally
bright when illuminated with two sources,
then the surfaces will be receiving the
same illuminance and the boundary
between the surfaces will be difficult to
see.

Illuminance on the left hand screen

E L I1 d12 cos
2
Illuminance on the right hand screen
d1
I1 I 2

ER I 2 d 22 cos d2
Weber-Fechner Law for human eye to judge the equality of brightness of two
surfaces: If L is a value for the prevailing luminance of a surface and dL is the
minimum noticeable increment, then
dL
constant
L
 Photometry
Example:
A point source of light S, of intensity 100 cd, is suspended 4 m above a
horizontal surface. What is the illuminance on the surface (i) at the point
vertically below the source, (ii) at 6 m from this point?

Example:
Light falls normally on a surface at 4 m from a point source of light. If the
surface is moved to a distance 3 m from the source, at what angle must the
surface be inclined in order that the illuminance is the same value?
 Photometric units
Luminance (brightness) in a given direction = luminous
intensity emitted per unit area per steradian of solid
angle of the receiver
Lambert = brightness of a perfectly diffused surface
emitting or scattering 1 lumen/cm
candles/cm = Lambert
candles/m = meter-Lambert
candles/ft = foot-Lambert

Luminance of a reflecting surface depends on

(1) the illuminance on the surface,
(2) the surface reflectance or albedo of the surface
(3) the angle of incidence of the light
.
(4) the angle of view to the surface
Luminance (Brightness)
extended light source

1/683 watt incident on

1 square meter at 1 meter distance
= 1 candela/meter2
 As each source point is counted once, the total light passing
through the pinhole is equal to the
illuminance
of the source at the pinhole.

As the solid angle is equal on both sides of the pinhole, and the pinhole is
now the new point source inside the camera, the ..
luminance of
the image depends only on the focal distance F2
 illuminance
The of a source is inversely proportional to its
distance but the light is concentrated into a visual area that is
reduced by the same amount, the two cancel each other out. As a
result
luminance is constant across distance

As lights recede from us, they become dimmer but proportionally smaller
in visual extent as well, so we perceive the source as having a constant
.
luminous intensity
 Photometry
Luminance:
The luminance L of any surface in a specified direction is
defined as the luminous intensity per unit projected area
in the direction concerned.
I
L
A cos
A uniformly diffusing surface obeys the Lamberts Law of Emission.

I cos
Illuminance is concerned with the luminous flux incident on a surface and this does
not depend on the nature of the surface.

Luminance is concerned the flux which is emitted (or transmitted, or reflected) in a

given direction and this will be dependent on the nature of the surface.
 Illuminance lux
of a surface
Illuminance measures the effective light energy at a specific
location from the light source. It is important because distance
has a huge impact on light intensity.
Examples:
At 100 meters, a light of one candela has an illuminance of 0.01
lux.
To illuminate a square meter area at 1 lumen (one candle's light),
a light at 100 meters must shine at 10,000 candelas.

Illuminance corresponds to our sense of light as

"filling" an interior area
or "flooding" a landscape,

1/683 watt incident on 1 square meter

= 1 lumen per square meter
= 1 lux
Luminance of a Image: Photometry
Luminance of the object area a in the
direction of the lens
I
L
a
The flux incident on the lens is
I aL lumen
a L
The illuminance of image is then E
lux
a a
a l 2
Ll 2
AL
Since 2 , we have E 2 2
a l l l Illuminance of the image of a
surface is proportional to the
If the lens diameter is d : d2
E L 2 luminance of the object surface
4 l and the area of the lens
2 aperture.
In camera, d
E L
4 f d/f is the aperture ratio of the lens and is the reciprocal of the
f-number of the lens.
Luminous flux from the area a is

I La La a a L L
The relationships among standard
photometric units
 Recommended Levels
German US (IES)
Precise assembly work 1000 lx 3000 lx
Very precise work 1000 lx 7500 lx
General Office work 500 lx 750 lx

Weighting Factors for Visual Tasks

Weight
Characteristic
-1 0 +1

Age of workers < 40 40-55 > 55

Speed and/or Accuracy Not important Important Critical
Reflectance, Task background > 70% 30-70% < 30%

Low: -3, -2 Medium: -1, 0, +1 High: +2, +3

 Example

Estimate the maximum distance that a poor copy of a typed

text can be read. The overall height of the letters are 0.6
inches and letter stroke width/height ratio is 1/5. The paper
has a reflectance of 80% and the letter is a reflectance of
64%. The illumination on the paper is10 f C.

LB LT
Contrast =
LB
 Terminology
Radiant flux
Energy in the form of radiation from a source per unit time
units passing through a surface = Watt [W]
irradiance
irradiate - to have light radiating on to an object
irradiance - the light emitted from an object surface
that is being irradiated

Irradiance (Il0) a measure of power per unit area

Reflectance (rf ) is the ratio of reflected to incident
Irradiance
rf = Il0 rf / Il0
 Radiance Energy Flux through a surface per unit of solid angle per unit
area of source
Watts
W
R 2
m St
Solid Angle
per meter square of source
Steridian [St]

Irradiance Energy Flux through a surface per unit of area

W
I 2
m
Power = Energy / Time [Joules / Second] = [Watts]
Power = DE / Time
Power = Photons / Time
Power = nhn / Time
Irradiance = Power / Area = (Photons / Time) / Area
Irradiance = [Watts / Square Meter]
Reflectance:
luminous flux per unit area reflected by a surface

luminous flux per unit area incident on the surface

Reflecting Mirror:
The illuminance on the surface at B due to the
reflected light is,
I I A2 I
EB 2

A2 A2 A2 d d2
The illuminance at B, due to the reflected light, is as if from a source of intensity I
situated at the position of the image in the mirror.
Transmittance:

luminous flux per unit area transmitted by the body

luminous flux per unit area incident on the surface

It depends on the nature and thickness of the substance. It may also depend on the
wavelength of the light used.
Neutral substances: materials that display an almost constant transmittance across
the whole visible spectrum.
 Photometry
Example:
A small 50 cd source which may be
assumed to radiate uniformly in all directions,
is placed 75 cm above a horizontal table,
and a plane mirror is fixed horizontally 25 cm
above the source. If the mirror reflects 85%
of the incident light, calculate the illuminance
on the table at the point vertically below the
source.

Example:
A football pitch 110 m by 87.5 m is illuminated for evening matches by equal
banks of 1000 W lamps supported on 16 towers, which are located around
the ground to provide approximately uniform illuminance of the pitch.
Assuming 35% of the total light emitted reaches the playing area and that an
illuminance of 800 lm/m2 is necessary for TV purposes, calculate the
number of lamps on each tower. The luminous efficacy of each lamp may
be taken as 25 lm/W.
 Photometry
Example:
A point light source of intensity 200 cd is 2.5 m from a screen. Calculate
the illuminance on the screen for normal incidence. If a neutral filter of
transmittance 45% is placed between the source and the screen, what is
the new value of the illuminance? Where must the source be placed such
that, with the above mentioned filter in place, and with normal incidence,
the illuminance on the screen is restored to its original value?
 Photometry
Example:
A point source of intensity 40 cd is placed on the axis and 20 cm from a +10
D lens of aperture 4 cm. Find the illuminance on a screen placed 10 cm
from the lens, neglecting reflection and absorption losses. What will be the
illuminance on the same screen if the aperture of the lens is reduced to 3
cm?