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Updated: Jun 29, 2026

Measuring Spatially- and Directionally-varying Light Scattering from Biological Material
Published on: May 20, 2013
Design of an instrument for measuring the spectral bidirectional scatter distribution function
Frédéric B Leloup1, Stefaan Forment, Philip Dutré
1Light and Lighting Laboratory, KaHo Sint-Lieven, Gebroeders Desmetstraat 1, B-9000 Gent, Belgium. frederic.leloup@kahosl.be
Abstract:
The spectral bidirectional scatter distribution function (BSDF) offers a complete description of the spectral and spatial optical characteristics of a material. Any gloss and color measurement can be related to a particular value of the BSDF, while accurate luminaire design with ray tracing software requires the BSDF of reflectors and filters. Many measuring instruments, each having particular advantages and limitations, have been reported in the literature, and an overview of these instruments is included. A measuring instrument that allows for an absolute determination of the spectral BSDF with a full three dimensional spatial coverage in both reflectance and transmittance mode, a broadband spectral coverage, a large dynamic range, a reasonable acquisition time, and a large sample illumination area is presented. The main instrument characteristics are discussed, and the measurement capabilities are illustrated.
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