Luminance Converter

Convert between all luminance units instantly. Select your units from the dropdowns below and enter a value to see the conversion in real-time.

SI unit: candela per square metre (cd/m²)

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Conversion Formula

Select units to see the conversion formula.

About Luminance Units

Select units above to see detailed information about them.

Common Luminance Conversions

1 cd/m² = 1 nit (informal name used in display engineering)
1 fL (foot-lambert) ≈ 3.4263 cd/m² (SMPTE cinema standard: 14 fL ≈ 48 cd/m²)
1 L (lambert) = 10⁴/π cd/m² ≈ 3 183 cd/m² (CGS unit)
1 sb (stilb) = 10⁴ cd/m² = 1 cd/cm² (CGS unit)
1 asb (apostilb) = 1/π cd/m² ≈ 0.3183 cd/m² (CIE 1940)
1 cd/ft² ≈ 10.764 cd/m² (Imperial luminance unit)
Typical laptop screen: 250-500 cd/m²
HDR display peak: 1 000-4 000 cd/m² (1-4 kcd/m²)
Clear blue sky: ~3 000-8 000 cd/m²
Solar disc at zenith: ~1.6 × 10⁹ cd/m² (~1 600 Mcd/m²)

Direct Converters