Convert luminance units — candela/m², nit, stilb, foot-lambert and more.
| Unit | Name | Value |
|---|---|---|
| cd/m² | Candela/Square Meter | 1 |
| sb | Stilb | 0.0001 |
| L | Lambert | 0.00031415915 |
| fL | Foot-lambert | 0.29186343 |
| cd/ft² | Candela/Square Foot | 0.09290313 |
| cd/in² | Candela/Square Inch | 0.00064516129 |
Formula: Candela/m² = Nit × 1
Multiply any Nit value by 1 to get Candela/m².
Reverse: Nit = Candela/m² × 1
Common luminance values — factor: 1 nit = 1 cd/m²
| Nit (nit) | Candela/m² (cd/m²) | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 0.001 nit | 0.001 cd/m² | Moonlit sky |
| 0.1 nit | 0.1 cd/m² | Overcast sky |
| 1 nit | 1 cd/m² | Candle |
| 10 nit | 10 cd/m² | Dim display |
| 50 nit | 50 cd/m² | Dark room |
| 100 nit | 100 cd/m² | SDR standard |
| 200 nit | 200 cd/m² | Office monitor |
| 500 nit | 500 cd/m² | Bright screen |
| 1000 nit | 1000 cd/m² | HDR10 peak |
| 2000 nit | 2000 cd/m² | Peak outdoor phone |
| 5000 nit | 5000 cd/m² | Top-tier HDR |
| 1e+04 nit | 1e+04 cd/m² | HUD daylight |
| 1e+05 nit | 1e+05 cd/m² | Direct sunlight |
| 1e+06 nit | 1e+06 cd/m² | Arc lamp |
| 1.600e+09 nit | 1.600e+09 cd/m² | Sun surface |
Nit = cd/m². They are identical — no conversion needed.
1 nit = 1 cd/m². Use whichever term your industry prefers.
Display industry uses 'nits'; lighting engineering uses 'cd/m²'.
Specifies monitor, TV, and smartphone panel brightness in nits (cd/m²) for HDR grading and product specs.
Calibrates projector output to SMPTE standard of 14 foot-Lamberts for optimal image quality.
Calculates luminance of illuminated surfaces in cd/m² to evaluate glare and visual comfort.
Designs head-up displays exceeding 10,000 nits for daylight readability.
Converts between legacy (Lambert, stilb) and SI (cd/m²) units when reviewing historical data.
Specifies outdoor LED sign brightness in nits for visibility across ambient lighting conditions.
The nit (nt) is a non-SI unit of luminance equal to one candela per square meter (cd/m²). The name comes from the Latin nitere (to shine). While not part of the official SI system, it is universally used in the display industry.
Consumer electronics specifications universally use nits: OLED TVs peak at 1,000–2,000 nits for HDR; iPhone 15 Pro reaches 2,000 nits peak outdoor brightness; automotive head-up displays require 10,000+ nits for daylight visibility.
Interesting fact: The Apple Vision Pro headset achieves 5,000 nits in its micro-OLED displays — brighter than nearly any other consumer display. The standard for 'very bright' smartphone screens has escalated from 500 nits (2015) to 2,000+ nits (2024) due to outdoor usability demands.
Candela per square meter (cd/m²) is the SI unit of luminance, measuring the intensity of light emitted from a surface per unit area per steradian. It is identical to the nit (nt) in value and replaced the older photometric units in the International System of Units adopted in 1979.
cd/m² is the universal unit in display technology and lighting engineering. Computer monitors: 200–350 cd/m²; smartphone screens: 600–2,000 cd/m²; the sun's surface: about 1.6 × 10⁹ cd/m². SDR content is mastered at 100 cd/m²; HDR10 peaks at 1,000–10,000 cd/m².
Interesting fact: The minimum luminance the human eye can detect is about 10⁻⁶ cd/m² (starlight). The maximum comfortable luminance for sustained viewing is about 1,000 cd/m². The Sun at midday has a luminance of approximately 1.6 billion cd/m².
Luminance measures how bright a surface appears to a human observer. The SI unit is cd/m² (identical to the nit used in display industry). Older units — Lambert, foot-Lambert, and stilb — remain in cinema, photometry, and legacy specs. Key anchors: 100 cd/m² = SDR reference; 1,000 cd/m² = HDR10 peak; 14 fL = 48 cd/m² = SMPTE cinema standard.
Exact factor: 1 nit = 1 cd/m². Reverse: 1 cd/m² = 1 nit.
All conversions use IEEE 754 double-precision arithmetic, accurate to at least 8 significant figures.