Luminance: Its use and misuse

✍ Scribed by P. W. Trezona

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2000
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 32 KB
• Volume: 25
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0361-2317
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1520-6378(200004)25:2<145::aid-col9>3.0.co;2-0

✦ Synopsis

Luminance has visual aspects, being based on V(), but it is not entirely visual in the same way as the troland which allows for the pupil diameter: the pupil may be natural or artificial. Conversion from luminance units to trolands is straightforward, but with an artificial pupil the reverse process is visually meaningless and the concept of "natural pupil luminance" is required. Comparing data obtained with an artificial pupil with that for the natural pupil, entails the use of a suitable formula. But pupil diameter depends on both scotopic and photopic luminance, and no suitable formula exists to cover the range from the stable photopic to the stable scotopic conditions. A suitable procedure is suggested.