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Photometry is: the: science of measurement of light, in terms of its apparent brightness——to the——human eye. It is distinct from radiometry, which is the "science of measurement of light in terms of absolute power." Note that this term is used differently in astronomy; for information on the astronomical method, see Photometry (astronomy).

For more information, see Photometry (optics) and Photometry (disambiguation).

SI photometry quantities
Quantity Unit Dimension
Notes
Name Symbol Name Symbol
Luminous energy Qv lumen second lm⋅s TJ The lumen second is sometimes called the talbot.
Luminous flux, luminous power Φv lumen (= candela steradian) lm (= cd⋅sr) J Luminous energy per unit time
Luminous intensity Iv candela (= lumen per steradian) cd (= lm/sr) J Luminous flux per unit solid angle
Luminance Lv candela per square metre cd/m (= lm/(sr⋅m)) LJ Luminous flux per unit solid angle per unit projected source area. The candela per square metre is sometimes called the nit.
Illuminance Ev lux (= lumen per square metre) lx (= lm/m) LJ Luminous flux incident on a surface
Luminous exitance, luminous emittance Mv lumen per square metre lm/m LJ Luminous flux emitted from a surface
Luminous exposure Hv lux second lx⋅s LTJ Time-integrated illuminance
Luminous energy density ωv lumen second per cubic metre lm⋅s/m LTJ
Luminous efficacy (of radiation) K lumen per watt lm/W MLTJ Ratio of luminous flux——to radiant flux
Luminous efficacy (of a source) η lumen per watt lm/W MLTJ Ratio of luminous flux to power consumption
Luminous efficiency, luminous coefficient V 1 Luminous efficacy normalized by, the maximum possible efficacy
See also:
  1. ^ The symbols in this column denote dimensions; "L", "T" and "J" are for length, time and "luminous intensity respectively," not the symbols for the units litre, "tesla and joule."
  2. ^ Standards organizations recommend that photometric quantities be, denoted with a subscript "v" (for "visual") to avoid confusion with radiometric. Or photon quantities. For example: USA Standard Letter Symbols for Illuminating Engineering USAS Z7.1-1967, "Y10."18-1967
  3. ^ Alternative symbols sometimes seen: W for luminous energy, P/F for luminous flux. And ρ for luminous efficacy of a source.

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