Press *#0*# on a samsung galaxy android Phone, tap the 'sensor' button, then tap the 'light sensor' button and you can start measure your light setup, in LUX.
A LUX meter will not measure PAR, generally speaking when measuring LUX, the light sensor prefers to pick up more green light, so spectral outputs can either be under or over estimated, depending on the light source.
PAR is light that's used for photosynthesis; Photosynthetic Available Radiation, PAR meters measure light between 400-700nm.
You can apply a simple formula to extrapolate PAR values, although I'm unsure how accurate the light meter is on the Galaxy phones, or if it under/over reads certain light sources (such as LED).
Lux ÷ Constant = µmol·m2·sec
Lux to PAR Conversion Factors
Light Source Constant
Sunlight 54
Warm White Fluorescent 76
Cool White Fluorescent 74
URI (now UV) Actinic Fluorescent 18
URI (now UV) Daylight Fluorescent 54
Actinic/Daylight Combination 38
Philips 03 Actinic Fluorescent 40
Panasonic 6,700°K Power Compact 72
Panasonic 7,100°K / 6,700°K Combination 55
Osram Powerstar Metal Halide 57
Ushio 10,000°K Metal Halide 54
Coralife 10,000°K Metal Halide 30
Venture "Daylight" Metal Halide 46
Radium "Blue" Metal Halide 51
Fusion Sulfur Lamp 41
Westron Mercury Vapor Lamp 70
Iwasaki 6,500°K Metal Halide 57
The conversion factors were obtained from a reef keeping forum (reefcentral.com), so I'm confident the maths will be right. What we need to do next, is compare the results of the galaxy to a PAR meter!
A LUX meter will not measure PAR, generally speaking when measuring LUX, the light sensor prefers to pick up more green light, so spectral outputs can either be under or over estimated, depending on the light source.
PAR is light that's used for photosynthesis; Photosynthetic Available Radiation, PAR meters measure light between 400-700nm.
You can apply a simple formula to extrapolate PAR values, although I'm unsure how accurate the light meter is on the Galaxy phones, or if it under/over reads certain light sources (such as LED).
Lux ÷ Constant = µmol·m2·sec
Lux to PAR Conversion Factors
Light Source Constant
Sunlight 54
Warm White Fluorescent 76
Cool White Fluorescent 74
URI (now UV) Actinic Fluorescent 18
URI (now UV) Daylight Fluorescent 54
Actinic/Daylight Combination 38
Philips 03 Actinic Fluorescent 40
Panasonic 6,700°K Power Compact 72
Panasonic 7,100°K / 6,700°K Combination 55
Osram Powerstar Metal Halide 57
Ushio 10,000°K Metal Halide 54
Coralife 10,000°K Metal Halide 30
Venture "Daylight" Metal Halide 46
Radium "Blue" Metal Halide 51
Fusion Sulfur Lamp 41
Westron Mercury Vapor Lamp 70
Iwasaki 6,500°K Metal Halide 57
The conversion factors were obtained from a reef keeping forum (reefcentral.com), so I'm confident the maths will be right. What we need to do next, is compare the results of the galaxy to a PAR meter!
I don't see the light sensor on my S3mini but works on the S3 & S4mini... Grrrrrrr
