Characteristic of temporal light modulation reference meter and standard light source for calibration and verification

Abstract The measurement of the temporal light modulation (TLM) of a light source is gaining increasing importance owing to its detrimental effects on human vision and health. To establish traceability in TLM measurements, the National Institute of Metrology, China (NIM), established a TLM reference meter (TLMM) and standard TLM light source (STLS) for calibration and verification services. The TLMM and STLS employ detector- and source-based approaches, respectively, to define the standards for TLM quantities. The TLMM rapidly acquires light waveform data from the TLM light sources and calculates corresponding TLM quantities. Frequency calibration result is with an expanded uncertainty of 1 × 10 −5 , frequency response function is almost flat in range of 1 kHz–25 kHz, and response time is less than 8 × 10 −6 s. The electrical noise was evaluated at approximately 1000:1–5000:1. The STLS generates an arbitrary TLM waveform by converting the virtual waveform into an actual LED output light waveform. For the frequency response function, the relative amplitude decreased by 1% with a frequency of 15 kHz, and response time was less than 5 × 10 −6 s. The linearity of the frequency dependency was studied with ratio varied by approximately 0.19% when the periodic triangle excitation in frequency band from 1 Hz to 1 kHz. Experimental comparisons demonstrated that TLM quantities (frequency, percentage flicker, flicker index, short-term flicker severity <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:mrow> <mml:msubsup> <mml:mi>P</mml:mi> <mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mtext>st</mml:mtext> </mml:mrow> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mtext>LM</mml:mtext> </mml:mrow> </mml:mrow> </mml:msubsup> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> , and stroboscopic effect visibility measure ( <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mtext>SVM</mml:mtext> </mml:mrow> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> )) are consistent between the TLMM and STLS devices on 14 typical TLM waveforms. For <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:mrow> <mml:msubsup> <mml:mi>P</mml:mi> <mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mtext>st</mml:mtext> </mml:mrow> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mtext>LM</mml:mtext> </mml:mrow> </mml:mrow> </mml:msubsup> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> , most of the deviations were in the range of −0.019–0.079 (except for one with 0.182). For <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mtext>SVM</mml:mtext> </mml:mrow> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> , most of the deviations were in the range of −0.001–0.003 (except for one with 0.014).