What are photometric curves and photometric files?

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The Essential Tools for Lighting Design

Photometric curves are the two-dimensional representation of the light output of a light source or luminaire. The three-dimensional representation of the intensity is called a photometric solid (see figure) and dissecting it with planes produces diagrams such as those shown in the figure called Photometric Curves.

What are photometric curves and photometric files?
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The functionality of photometric curves

Photometric curves are used to give an indication of the emission of the light beam, for example to understand the aperture angle of a lamp. However, if we need a more detailed analysis of light scattering in space or even a real simulation, we must necessarily resort to the use of photometric files. These files are associated with a single product and are available within the libraries of simulation software. DIALUX, to name but one, is the most famous software used by designers all over the world. The formats of these PHOTOMETRIC FILES can be LDT or IES. LDT is actually the most common format in European countries while IES is the official North American format.

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