Stilb (unit)

The stilb (sb) is the CGS unit of luminance for objects that are not self-luminous. It is equal to one candela per square centimeter or 10⁴ nits (candelas per square meter). The name was coined by the French physicist André Blondel around 1920.^[1] It comes from the Greek word stilbein meaning "to glitter".

It was in common use in Europe up to World War I. In North America self-explanatory terms such as candle per square inch and candle per square meter were more common.^[2] The unit has since largely been replaced by the SI unit: candela per square meter. The current national standard for SI in the United States discourages the use of the stilb.^[3]

Unit conversion

$\mathrm{1\, \frac{cd}{m^2} = 10^{-4}\, sb}$

$\mathrm{1\, sb = 1\,\frac{cd}{cm^2} = 10^4\,\frac{cd}{m^2}}$

$\mathrm{1 \, sb = 10^4 \, nit = 10^7 \, millinit}$

$\mathrm{1 \, sb = 1 \pi \, L = 10^3 \pi \, mL = 10^4 \, \pi \, asb = 10^4 \pi \, blondel = 10^7 \pi \, sk = 10^{11} \pi \, bril}$

$\mathrm{1 \, sb = 10^4\,\frac{cd}{m^2} \approx 0.3048^2 \cdot 10^4 \cdot \pi \,\, fL = 2918.6...\, fL}$

See also

Other units of luminance:

• Nit (nit and millinit)
• Apostilb (asb)
• Blondel (blondel)
• Skot (sk)
• Bril (bril)
• Lambert (L and mL aka millilambert)
• Footlambert (fL)

SI photometry quantities

Quantity		Unit		Dimension	Notes
Name	Symbol[nb 1]	Name	Symbol	Symbol
Luminous energy	Qv [nb 2]	lumen second	lm⋅s	T⋅J [nb 3]	Units are sometimes called talbots.
Luminous flux / luminous power	Φv [nb 2]	lumen (= cd⋅sr)	lm	J [nb 3]	Luminous energy per unit time.
Luminous intensity	Iv	candela (= lm/sr)	cd	J [nb 3]	Luminous power per unit solid angle.
Luminance	Lv	candela per square metre	cd/m^2	L^−2⋅J	Luminous power per unit solid angle per unit projected source area. Units are sometimes called nits.
Illuminance	Ev	lux (= lm/m^2)	lx	L^−2⋅J	Luminous power incident on a surface.
Luminous exitance / luminous emittance	Mv	lux	lx	L^−2⋅J	Luminous power emitted from a surface.
Luminous exposure	Hv	lux second	lx⋅s	L^−2⋅T⋅J
Luminous energy density	ωv	lumen second per cubic metre	lm⋅s⋅m^−3	L^−3⋅T⋅J
Luminous efficacy	η [nb 2]	lumen per watt	lm/W	M^−1⋅L^−2⋅T^3⋅J	Ratio of luminous flux to radiant flux or power consumption, depending on context.
Luminous efficiency / luminous coefficient	V			1
See also: SI · Photometry · Radiometry

1. Standards organizations recommend that photometric quantities be denoted with a suffix "v" (for "visual") to avoid confusion with radiometric or photon quantities. For example: USA Standard Letter Symbols for Illuminating Engineering USAS Z7.1-1967, Y10.18-1967
2. Alternative symbols sometimes seen: W for luminous energy, P or F for luminous flux, and ρ or K for luminous efficacy.
3. "J" here is the symbol for the dimension of luminous intensity, not the symbol for the unit joules.

Notes and references

• Stilb at A Dictionary of Units of Measurement, Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Accessed June 2008.
• Stilb at Sizes.com. Accessed June 2008.

1. Parry Moon. "System of photometer concepts", in the Journal of the Optical Society of America, volume 32, number 6 (June 1942). – Page 355: "The lumen was proposed by Blondel in 1894 and is now universally accepted. The names, phot and stilb were likewise coined by Blondel (1921) and are in general use on the Continent."
2. American Standard Definitions of Electrical Terms, New York: American Institute of Electrical Engineers, 1941.
3. IEEE/ASTM SI 10-2002. American National Standard for Use of the International System of Units (SI): The Modern Metric System. New York: IEEE, 30 December 2002. See Section 3.3.3.