Certified Professional Photographer (CPP) Practice Exam

Which of the following terms is related to the amount of light a monitor emits?

1. Brightness

2. Luminance

3. Contrast

4. Gamma

The correct answer is: Luminance

The term related to the amount of light a monitor emits is luminance. Luminance refers specifically to the intensity of light as perceived by the human eye from a particular area of a display. It is measured in units like candelas per square meter (cd/m²). Understanding luminance is crucial for photographers and those in visual fields, as it directly impacts how images are displayed and perceived on screens. Brightness, while sometimes used interchangeably with luminance in casual conversation, actually refers to the subjective perception of lightness by the human eye and does not specifically quantify emitted light. Contrast deals with the difference between the darkest and lightest parts of an image, affecting visual clarity and depth but not the amount of light emitted. Gamma is a term related to the nonlinear relationship between the input signal and the brightness of the display, influencing how tonal values are represented but not directly measuring emitted light. Therefore, luminance stands as the precise term for the light emission of a monitor.