80 years of V (?) use: A review

The photopic spectral luminous efficiency function V () has been the basis of all photometry since 1924. For almost as long, the erratic nature of the blue end of the V () has been obvious. The reasons which led the researchers of that time to propose the curve, which we presently know as V () , have remained unknown for many. It is not widely known that most of the photometric mea� surements to establish the V () were actually per� formed under mesopic adaptation conditions. Sub� sequently, the V () function was a revision of the I.E.S. curve but the details of how the I.E.S. curve was determined have apparently not been pre� served. This paper gives an extensive overview on the establishment procedure of the V () and high� lights the differences in the experimental settings and data of several researchers, whose works con� tributed to the establishment of V () .

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