Luminesity :

Light energy emitted per second L= (J/s= w)

Luminesity of sun is Lsun = 3.85 *

1026

W( watt)

Flux (light):
Light energy through 1

per second (w/

Steradian:
The steradian (symbolized sr) is the Standard
International (SI) unit of solid angular measure.
There are 4 pi, or approximately 12.5664,
steradians in a complete sphere.
A steradian is defined as conical in shape, as
shown in the illustration. Point P represents the
center of the sphere. The solid (conical) angle q,
representing one steradian, is such that the
area A of the subtended portion of the sphere is
equal to r2, where r is the radius of the sphere.

A general sense of the steradian can be envisioned by considering a sphere

whose radius is one meter (r = 1m). Imagine a cone with its apex P at the
center of the sphere, and that intersects the surface in a circle (shown as a
red ellipse, the upper half of which is dashed). Suppose the flare angle q of
the cone is such that the area A of the spherical segment within the circle is
equal to one meter squared (A = 1 m2). Then the flare angle of the cone is
equal to 1 steradian (q = 1 sr). The total surface area of the sphere is, in this
case, 12.5664 square meters (4 pi times the square of the radius).

LUMEN:
One lumen is the luminous flux per unit solid angle due to a point source of light of
one candela power.

Light is a form of energy that is emitted

as photons form a light source. Light
energy depends on the wavelength, .
Short wavelengths ( blue) contain more
energy than long wavelengths(red).

LUMEN:
The basic unit of light energy is the
lumen, which measures the total flow of
photons or light energy produced by a
light source.
One lumen represents a power of 1/683
joule per second at a wavelength of
555nm (yellow-green). Once joule raises
the temperature of 1g of water 0.24C.
Power is the flow of energy. One joule per
second is 1 watt of power, so a lumen is
1/683 watt. A lumen measures the total
light (the sum of energy from all the
photons) emanating from a source.
CANDELAS OR CANDLES:
The luminous intensity of a real light
source is measured in candles or
candelas. The standard states The
candela is the luminous intensity, in a
given direction, of a source that emits
monochromatic radiation of frequency
540* 10
Hz and that has a radiant
12

intensity in that has a radian intensity in

that direction of 1/683 watt per steradian.
The candela measures the luminous
intensity per steradian of light originating
from a specific direction or a real source
as if it were emerging form a point source
at that origin.
The number of Candelas from a real
source varies with direction not with
distance.
The number of photons per second
emitted does not change with distance
from the source. The ssame number
strikes a 1m radius sphere that
completely surrounds the source as
strikes a 2m radius sphere. The solid
angle is independent of the distance.
Light power a 1 candela source is 1/683
watt/steradian. The total power is 1/683
watt 4= 4 lumens = 12.566 lumens.
The
total
amount
of
light
( Photons/second) emitted from a point

source is constant, but the spatial density

( photons/second per unit area) decreases
with the square of the distance.
LUX:
Light Flux is measured in luxes, wher 1
lux = 1 lumen/ m .
2

If you were to enclose a 1-lumen light

source is a 1m radius sphere, the total
amount of light striking the surface of the
sphere would still be 1 lumen, but the
density of the light at the surface would
be 1 lumen divided by the area of the
sphere
( 4 R =4 (1 m) =12.566 m
.
so
the
illumination of the surface would be 1
lumen/12.566 m = 1/12.566 lux= 0.0796
lux. A 2m radius sphere would still receive
1 lumen of light, but this light would now
be distributed over 4 R =4 (2 m) =50.265 m . The
surface illumination of the 2m radius
sphere would be 0.0199 lux.
2

The candela specifies light coming from a

particular direction, measured as if it

were coming from a point source in that

direction. The lumen specifies the total
amount of light.
The lux specifies the amount of light
illuminating a surface.
A good example demonstrating the
difference
between
lumens
and
candlepower is the laser. Lasers have a
very high candlepower because the light
is focused into a single point, but it would
have a very low lumen value because it
does not give off a substantial amount
light. You certainly would not want to go
on a walk in the woods at night with a
laser pointer.
Second Edition:
Candela
The candela (unit cd) has its origin in the brightness of a "standard candle", but it has received a more
precise definition in the International System of Units (SI) and at that time the unit was also renamed
from "candle" to "candela".

The candela measures the amount of light emitted in the range of a (threedimensional) angular span. Since the luminous intensity is described in terms
of an angle, the distance at which you measure this intensity is irrelevant. For
ease of illustration, in the picture at the right the three dimensions have been
flattened to two. In this picture, screen B would catch exactly the same
amount of light rays (emitted from the light source) as screen A provided
that screen A were removed to not obscure screen B. This is because screen
B covers the same angle as screen A.( i.e Candela is only concern with
angle not with the distance from the source)
The angular span for candela is expressed in steradian, a measure without unit (like
radian for angles in a two-dimensional space). One steradian on a sphere with a
radius of one metre gives a surface of one m2. A full sphere measures

4 steradians.

Lumen
The lumen (unit lm) gives the total luminous flux of a light source by multiplying the intensity (in
candela) by the angular span over which the light is emitted. With the symbol
candela and

v for lumen, Iv for

for the angular span in steradian, the relation is:

v=Iv

If a light source is isotropic (meaning: uniform in all directions),

v=4 Iv. This is because a sphere

measures 4 steradians.

Lux
Lux (unit lx) is a measure of illumination of a surface. Light meters often measure lux values (or
footcandles, but these are directly related: one footcandle is 10.764 lx). Formally, lux is a derived
unit from lumen, which is a derived unit from candela. Yet, the concept of lux is more easily
compared to candela than to lumen.
The difference between lux and candela is that lux measures the
illumination of a surface, instead of that of an angle. The net
result is that the distance of that surface from the light source
becomes an important factor (in case of lux): the more distant
that the surface is from the light source, the less it will be
illuminated by it. In the picture at the right, screen A has the
same size as screen B.

One steradian on a sphere with a diameter of one metre gives a surface of one m 2. From this, it
follows that at a measuring distance of 1 metre, the values for candela (lumen per steradian) and lux
(lumen per m2) are the same. In general, measurements in lux can be converted to and from candelas
if the measurement distance is known. Note that when measuring LEDs, the virtual origin of the light
source lies a few millimetres behind the physical point source because of the lens of the LED this
becomes relevant when measuring LEDs at a short distance.

Luminance
Luminance is a measure for the amount of light emitted from a surface (in a particular direction).

Luminance is the amount of light energy emitted or reflected from an

object in a specific direction. Luminance is the only form of light we can
see. Luminance is measured in candela per square metre (cd/m2) or nit
(these two terms being interchangeable)
Luminance and illumination ("Lux") are related, in the sense that
luminance is typically used for light-emitting surfaces and illumination
for surfaces that are being lit.

What is luminance?
Luminance is apparent brightness, how bright an object appears to the human
eye. So when you look at the world what you see is a pattern of varying
luminances (if we ignore the color component). What you see on this page
you are reading is the luminance of the black letters compared to the
luminance of the white screen.
Luminance is measured in candelas per square meter.

Since luminance is what we see then light sources which we look at have
luminance too. The luminance of the sun and the moon give us a good idea of
the huge range of brightness which the human eye can handle.
Luminance of the sun: 1,600,000,000 cd/m2
Luminance of the moon: 2500 cd/m2
If you look at the sun you'll get 1,600 million candles per square meter into
you eye. That is why you should not look directly at the sun for very long.