Computer Science

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A 360-degree Omnidirectional Photometer Using a Ricoh Theta Z1
(2023-12-08) MacPherson, Ian Michael; Brown, Michael S.
Spot photometers measure the luminance emitted or reflected from a small surface area in a physical environment. Because the measurement is limited to a "spot," capturing dense luminance readings for an entire environment is impractical. This thesis demonstrates the potential of using an off-the-shelf commercial camera to operate as a 360-degree luminance meter. The method uses the Ricoh Theta Z1 camera, which provides a full 360-degree omnidirectional field of view and an API to access the camera's minimally processed RAW images. Working from the RAW images, this thesis describes a calibration method to map the RAW images under different exposures and ISO settings to luminance values. By combining the calibrated sensor with multi-exposure high-dynamic-range imaging, a cost-effective mechanism for capturing dense luminance maps of environments is provided. The results show that the Ricoh Theta calibrated as a luminance meter performs well when validated against a significantly more expensive spot photometer.