Evaluation of High Dynamic Range Imaging Methods for Luminance Measurements

Imaging luminance measurement is increasingly used in lighting applications, but the limited dynamic range of camera sensors requires using high dynamic range (HDR) imaging methods for evaluating scenes with large luminance contrasts. This work aims at investigating how parameters of HDR imaging techniques may impact luminance measurement accuracy, using a numerical evaluation. A numerical simulation framework based on a digital twin of an imaging system and synthetic high-contrast luminance scenes is used to introduce controlled systematic error sources and quantify their impact on HDR luminance accuracy. The results support the identification of HDR approaches most suitable for producing luminance measurements traceable to the International System of Units (SI).