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Candela Plots - changes to reported values

Question

Candela Plots - changes to reported values - Min, Max, Collected Flux, Total Flux, Total Rays, Efficiency

Synopsis

Candela Plots - changes to reported values - Min, Max, Collected Flux, Total Flux, Total Rays, Efficiency

Solution

Some of the information displayed in the footer of the TracePro Candela Plots was removed intentionally in TracePro 7.0.0 because we believed it to be misleading. The philosophy that we are  following is to have the data in the footer of any TracePro plot be data from that plot itself.

In the case of the Candela Distribution plots, a Max, Min, Total Rays, Total Flux and Efficiency value was reported. But the Candela Distribution plots are essentially a profile plot, one slice out of a hemisphere of data. There really are no rays or flux applicable to this slice. For the Max and Min, TracePro was plotting the Max and Min candela values for the entire hemisphere.

If that max value did bot happen to coincide with the slice of data being plotted, we felt it was a confusing item of data, as the plot itself might show a peak value of X, which the Max value reported at the bottom of the plot could be X+Y.

Our recommendation is to get the Max, Min, rays, and flux values from the Polar or Rectangular Iso-Candela Plots, with the understanding that the values correspond to the angular range selected, and then think of the Candela Distribution plots as a cross-sectional slice of the iso plots that can be used as a visual aid.

The Efficiency value is no longer displaying on any TracePro Candela Plot because we found that there are many different expectations for the values in both the numerator and denominator of this ratio:

Numerator of efficiency ratio:

  • Total Plotted Flux over the angular range of the Iso Candela plot
  • Total Flux over the entire hemisphere based on the Normal Vector set for the Iso Candela plot
  • Total Flux escaping into the entire sphere

Denominator of efficiency ratio:

  • total emitted luminous flux (visible light only)
  • total emitted radiant flux (UV, visible, and IR)
  • total input power (so the efficiency includes electrical losses)
All of this data (with the exception of the electrical input power) is available, and we recommend that each TracePro user calculate Efficiency to their own expectation.