This article provides a list of laboratories that can measure BRDF and BSDF.
In industrial colorimetry of QA non-luminous materials, assumptions are made that light reflected from or transmitted through a surface is relatively uniform, with only diffuse and specular components. To promote inter-instrument agreement, the CIE geometries for collecting the reflected or transmitted signal of non-luminous materials are standardized into directional and diffuse sphere types.
Prismatic highway signage materials tend to reflect light more in a retro-reflective direction than in any other. This is the type of material where a BRDF scattering profile would be useful to know in the research stage.
BRDF measurement serves as more of a research tool when you want to precisely quantify the pattern of light reflecting from a sample surface, or the pattern of light being transmitted through a clear material. Typical materials would be coated surfaces, plastics, films and metals.
Another major application area for BRDF measurement is quantifying the illumination pattern from self-luminous light sources such as LEDs and HID lamps; and luminaires such as automotive displays, and architectural lighting.
HunterLab does not make BSDF equipment but here are some further resources for equipment and measurement services:
Lighting Sciences Inc., Scottsdale, AZ 85260 USA, +480.991-9260, www.lightingsciences.com
LabSphere, Inc., North Sutton, NH 03260 USA, +603-927-4266, www.labsphere.com
Radiant Zemax, Redmond, WA 98053 USA, +425-844-0152, www.radiantzemax.com
KU Leuven, dept ESAT, Technologiecampus Gent (KAHO Sint-Lieven), Light & Lighting Laboratory, Gebroeders De Smetstraat 1, 9000 Gent (Belgium), +32 9 265 87 13, http://www.lichttechnologie.be
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