Human visual perception is the ultimate standard of quality for any lighting or display product that’s intended to be viewed by humans. From flat screen TVs to smart phones, light bulbs to traffic signals, stadium jumbotrons to VR goggles, the GPS in your car to the cockpit instruments of a jet plane, what human users perceive—and any defects they notice—is the defining factor in device quality. Human perception of brightness and color sets the benchmark for both operating and safety tolerances.
No machine vision or other sensing system has been able to fully replicate the level of discernment and accuracy of the human eye, but we can get very close using CCD-based imaging technology. Light measurement systems like imaging colorimeters that use CCD sensors offer a near-match to the precision and sensitivity of human vision. A calibrated CCD-based colorimeter can provide absolute measurements of light and color. What’s more, CCD imaging systems provide the repeatability, speed, and data capture necessary for automated visual inspection and quality control on the production line.