I used "photometric" because that is the term used in the literature
that I checked. You might point your expert to
Parr, Arthur C.,: The Candela and Photometric and Radiometric Units.
Journal of Research of the National Institute of Standards and
Technology, volume 106, number 1, January-February 2001.
I will do that!
> Also, do you concur with my "expert" in saying that nits are used because
> displays are distributed rather than point light sources?
I have never heard of nits as a unit of measurement, except as a
measure of the degree of infestation of one's hair by head lice. That's
not meant to be mean, just a statement of fact. It doesn't surprise me
that once again a community has devised their own unit name for
something that they use all the time.
I have seen it for years used extensively in technical literature relating to displays, of which my company uses many types. However, what prompted me to write the original email was seeing it in the consumer publication PC Magazine, in an article on laptop computers. They used an instrument to measure the evenness of lighting and level of brightness of laptop displays (PC Magazine, 26 March 2002, page 104), and reported the results in nits.
They did define it as a candela per square meter, near the end of the page, after using it a dozen times or so. But that will mean little to most lay people, who have no idea what a "candela" is.
... After all an ozzie of prevention is worth a lub of cure. ;-)
Jim, I'm afraid your humor is **way** to clever for me to follow!!
Jim Elwell
