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Everything You Need To Know About Lux Meter

By | Sakshi Verma

If someone in the past said a time would come when the man would measure brightness or illuminance, no one would have believed. Here we are in the 21st century with a device that accurately measures the brightness of the light.

We know it as lux meters today. Lux meters basically measure the intensity of light.

Confused?

Let’s understand each and every term related to a lux meter. This article will try to answer as many questions as possible. But first, let’s understand what a lux meter is?

What Is A Lux Meter?

Lux is the measuring unit for brightness or intensity of light, or to be precise, a unit to measure illuminance. The device that measures this brightness or illuminance is called a lux meter. It considers the surface area over which this light is spread, which affects how bright it appears.

The visible spectrum has a separate wavelength, and they are visible to the human eye with different sensitivities. The lux meter measures the light intensity by considering this phenomenon.

A lux meters light measurement devices is also called a light meter. It is a device that is used to measure brightness.

The lux meter measures the illumination specifically with the intensity of the brightness to the human eye. This measurement method is different from actual light energy produced by or reflected from an object or light source.

One lux equals one lumen of light spread across a surface of one square meter. A lumen measures the same light in terms of its perception by the human eye. One lumen is equivalent to the light produced in one direction from a light source rated at one candela.

What Is Candela?

The candela is the SI unit of luminous intensity. One candela is the luminous intensity, in a given direction, of a source that emits monochromatic radiation of frequency 540 × 1012 Hz and that has a radiant intensity in that direction of 1/683 watt per steradian(unit of solid angle). It is a fixed amount, roughly equivalent to the brightness of one candle.

What Is Illuminance?

Illuminance is the total amount of luminous flux incident on a surface per unit area. It is a measure of how much the incident light illuminates the surface.

It describes the measurement of the amount of light falling on and spreading over a given surface area.

Illuminance also correlates with how humans perceive the brightness of an illuminated area.

What Is The Intensity Of Light?

The intensity of light is the rate at which light spreads over a surface of a given area some distance from a source. The intensity varies with the distance from the source and the power of the source.

How Does Lux Meter Work?

A lux meter works with the help of using a photocell that captures light. The meter basically converts this captured light into an electrical current. When this current is measured, it allows the device to calculate the lux value of the captured light.

It registers the illumination with an integrated photodetector placed perpendicular to the light source for optimal exposure.

Results are shown either by an analog instrument or digital lux meters. Nowadays, you will find more use of digital lux meters.

Digital meters can save measurements accurately, and they have an adjustable detection range.

They, too, operate with the same phenomenon of captured light getting converted to electrical current, where the lux value is calculated by measuring this particular current.

Why Is Measuring Lux Level Important?

Measuring the amount of light falling on a particular surface allows the evaluation of whether you have adequate light to perform various visual tasks or not.

Measuring the lux level is also essential to regulate the lighting in any closed space like meeting rooms, theatres, malls or offices which directly relates to human comfort.

It enables you to measure the total amount of visible light present and the illumination intensity on a surface. Thus, it is crucial to know in what direction the light source shines.

What Is The Lux Meter Used For?

Lux meters is an instrument used to measure a light intensity, which are commonly used in regulating health and safety protocols.

Many medical processes need a specific amount of brightness in the room during their operation. Lux meters can be helpful to check whether a room is bright enough to meet those criteria designed to execute the operations correctly. It also helps in protecting workers from suffering damage to their eyesight.

The meter identifies the size of the room in a way that simply measures the light intensity source.

Lux meters are beneficial to measure street and security lighting, office and factory lighting, daylight, and sunlight.

Another critical use of the lux meter is to check whether a room is bright enough, especially in specific industries, where illuminance plays a vital role in the working, to protect worker’s eyesight from damage.

It is also helpful in adjusting the lighting systems of artificial lighting on railways. It is also helpful in the photography and video filming world.

 

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