Measuring glare reliably: a 3D-printable luminance standard for checking HDR cameras
On 31 August 2026 PTB reported on the completed European project HiDyn (EPM 21NRM01), which produced a high-contrast luminance standard for checking the HDR cameras used to assess glare and obtrusive light. According to PTB, commercial instruments — even the best — had not delivered comparable results, and metrological traceability was incomplete.
- The standard has seven independent modules covering six orders of magnitude of luminance — from 0.1 to 100 000 cd/m² — plus a light trap for evaluating the background signal; the project report covers determining luminance with an expanded uncertainty of no more than 1 % for the brightest and 2 % for the dimmest source.
- Most parts are 3D-printed and the design data are open access; the standard was developed by the Czech metrology institute CMI with Spain’s CSIC, and Switzerland’s METAS reproduced the modules from the guide.
- Commercial HDR imaging luminance meters were characterised against the standard — first on PTB’s 42-metre photometer bench in Braunschweig, then in night-time campaigns on the LED-Laufsteg street-lighting site in Berlin, at an illuminated façade in Switzerland and at a floodlit stadium in Athens. According to PTB such cameras cost up to EUR 100 000.
- PTB names state immission-control authorities, expert assessors and instrument makers among the project’s target groups; the results are meant to help settle disputes over glare and excessive lighting and to reduce light pollution.
Source: PTB — Nachts auf dem LED-Laufsteg (31.08.2026, projekt HiDyn)