Convert Lamberts to Kilocandela per Square Meter
Lambert (L) to Kilocandela per Square Meter (kcd/m²) luminance conversion — enter any value below to get an instant result, or use the table for common values.
Results from this calculator are estimates provided for general informational purposes only, based on formulas, rates, and standards commonly accepted as of 2026. Figures may differ slightly from other calculators or professional sources due to rounding methods, differing assumptions, or regional regulations, and rules may change over time. Always consult a qualified professional — such as a financial advisor, healthcare provider, or other relevant specialist — before making decisions based on these results.
Result
1 L = 3.1830989 kcd/m²
1 Lambert = 3.1830989 Kilocandela per Square Meter
1 Kilocandela per Square Meter = 0.31415927 Lamberts
1 L in every supported unit
Conversion chart: Lambert to Kilocandela per Square Meter
Conversion table
| Lambert (L) | Kilocandela per Square Meter (kcd/m²) |
|---|---|
| 0.01 L | 0.031830989 kcd/m² |
| 0.1 L | 0.31830989 kcd/m² |
| 1 L | 3.1830989 kcd/m² |
| 2 L | 6.3661977 kcd/m² |
| 3 L | 9.5492966 kcd/m² |
| 5 L | 15.915494 kcd/m² |
| 10 L | 31.830989 kcd/m² |
| 20 L | 63.661977 kcd/m² |
| 50 L | 159.15494 kcd/m² |
| 100 L | 318.30989 kcd/m² |
| 1000 L | 3183.0989 kcd/m² |
Lambert (L)
Definition: A CGS-system luminance unit defined so that a perfectly diffusing (Lambertian) surface emitting or reflecting one lumen per square centimeter has a luminance of exactly one lambert.
History: Named after 18th-century physicist and mathematician Johann Heinrich Lambert, who established the cosine law of illumination and diffuse reflection that underlies the definition of a perfectly diffusing surface.
Current use: Now largely superseded by SI units in most fields but still occasionally seen in older US and European photometric literature and legacy light-measurement equipment.
Kilocandela per Square Meter (kcd/m²)
Definition: A metric multiple of the base unit expressing one thousand candela per square meter, used for very bright sources such as direct sunlight or high-intensity LED arrays.
History: Adopted as a convenient SI multiple once measured luminance values for sources like the sun (over a million cd/m²) or vehicle headlights made plain cd/m² figures unwieldy to read and compare.
Current use: Used to report very high luminance levels such as automotive headlamp brightness, stadium floodlighting, and direct solar luminance in scientific literature.
Supported Units
| Unit | Symbol | In cd/m² |
|---|---|---|
| Candela per Square Meter | cd/m² | 1 cd/m² |
| Candela per Square Centimeter | cd/cm² | 10000 cd/m² |
| Candela per Square Foot | cd/ft² | 10.76391 cd/m² |
| Candela per Square Inch | cd/in² | 1550.0031 cd/m² |
| Kilocandela per Square Meter | kcd/m² | 1000 cd/m² |
| Stilb | sb | 10000 cd/m² |
| Lumen per Square Meter per Steradian | lm/m²/sr | 1 cd/m² |
| Lumen per Square Centimeter per Steradian | lm/cm²/sr | 10000 cd/m² |
| Lumen per Square Foot per Steradian | lm/ft²/sr | 10.76391 cd/m² |
| Watt per Square Centimeter per Steradian (at 555 nm) | W/cm²/sr | 6830000 cd/m² |
| Nit | nt | 1 cd/m² |
| Millinit | mnt | 0.001 cd/m² |
| Lambert | L | 3183.0989 cd/m² |
| Millilambert | mL | 3.1830989 cd/m² |
| Foot-Lambert | fL | 3.4262591 cd/m² |
| Apostilb | asb | 0.31830989 cd/m² |
| Blondel | bd | 0.31830989 cd/m² |
| Bril | bril | 3.1831E-08 cd/m² |
| Skot | sk | 0.0003183099 cd/m² |
About These Parameters
- Value
- The luminance value you want to convert, expressed in the "From" unit. Accepts decimals, so you can enter anything from a faint scotopic reading in skots to a display's rated brightness in nits.
- From Unit
- The unit your input value is currently measured in — a monitor spec sheet's nits, a cinema calibration report's foot-lamberts, or a scientific instrument's candela per square meter.
- To Unit
- The unit you want the result converted into. Use the swap button to flip From and To instantly and compare figures across display, cinema, and scientific contexts.
How Luminance Conversion Works
The Formula
Every unit here is defined by a fixed multiplier relative to candela per square meter. To convert a value from one unit to another:
result = value × (factor of "From" unit ÷ factor of "To" unit)
For Lambert → Kilocandela per Square Meter: multiply by 3.1830989. For example, 1 L × 3.1830989 = 3.1830989 kcd/m².
Nits vs. Candela per Square Meter
A nit and a candela per square meter are exactly the same physical quantity — "nit" is simply the shorter, everyday name adopted by the display and consumer electronics industry. When a phone, TV, or monitor spec sheet quotes "1,000 nits," that number is identical to 1,000 cd/m² in a scientific paper. The two names exist for context, not physics: engineers and physicists tend to write cd/m², while marketing copy, review sites, and display datasheets almost universally write nits.
CGS vs. SI Luminance Units
Several units on this page — the stilb, lambert, apostilb, blondel, bril, and skot — predate the modern SI system and come from the centimeter-gram-second (CGS) system of photometric units used in early 20th-century physics. They were built around the idea of a perfectly diffusing ("Lambertian") surface rather than the candela directly, which is why their conversion factors to cd/m² involve π-related constants (a lambert, for instance, equals 1/π candela per square centimeter). Most of these CGS units have been superseded by candela-per-square-meter and its nit alias in modern engineering, but they still surface in legacy scientific literature, older photometric instruments, and specialized fields like vision research that never fully migrated to SI.
Example
A luminance of 1 L equals 3.1830989 kcd/m². For scale, a typical smartphone screen runs around 500-1,000 nits, a calibrated cinema screen is set to roughly 14-16 foot-lamberts, an overcast sky reads around 2,000-4,000 cd/m², and the full moon's surface luminance is only about 2,500 cd/m² despite looking far brighter against a dark night sky.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many Kilocandela per Square Meter are in 1 Lambert?
1 Lambert (L) equals exactly 3.1830989 Kilocandela per Square Meter (kcd/m²).
What's the difference between luminance and brightness?
Luminance is the objective, physically measured quantity — candela per square meter, or nits — while "brightness" is often used loosely to describe the subjective perception of how light a surface looks, which also depends on surrounding contrast and the viewer's eye adaptation. Luminance is what a light meter measures; brightness is what a person reports seeing.
Is a nit the same as a candela per square meter?
Yes — a nit and a candela per square meter (cd/m²) are exactly the same unit under two different names. "Nit" is the informal name used throughout the display and consumer electronics industry, while cd/m² is the formal SI name used in scientific and engineering contexts.
Why do cinema screens use foot-lamberts instead of nits?
The film and projection industry standardized on foot-lamberts decades before nits became common in consumer electronics, and SMPTE calibration standards for theatrical and home-theater screens (typically 14-16 foot-lamberts) are still written in that unit today. Converting to nits (1 fL ≈ 3.43 cd/m²) shows that cinema screens are actually much dimmer than a modern smartphone or TV display, which is intentional for a dark viewing room.
Why are there so many old CGS luminance units like the stilb and apostilb?
Before the SI system standardized photometry around the candela and candela-per-square-meter in the mid-20th century, different countries and scientific traditions developed their own luminance units within the centimeter-gram-second (CGS) system — the stilb and lambert in general use, the apostilb and its French-system twin the blondel for illuminated surfaces, and the extremely small bril and skot for vision research into low-light perception. Most have fallen out of everyday use but still appear in older instruments, legacy literature, and specialized scientific fields.
How accurate are these conversions?
Every conversion factor used here is the exact, internationally recognized relationship between the underlying luminance units — results are limited only by floating-point display precision, not by rounded conversion constants.