[Radiance-general] IES photometry file formats

[Thomas Bleicher]

I think in Real Live(TM) you will find everything.

The good thing about IES is that you can read the essential
bits from a 95 file with knowledge of the 86 specs. IIRC most
changes where in the area of required key-words and allowed
formats. So - if anything - the variations got limited by the later
versions (not sure about 2002, though).

I haven't seen a lot of 2002 files. One reason is certainly, that
I stopped looking at IES files. The other is that the manufacturers
don't re-release their files in a newer version just because
there is a new spec available. The design of most fittings on
the market predates most of the specs so it's only a matter of
when the manufacturers finally got their products measured
which defines the format of their files.

I think that's why you will find more 1995 files than anything
else. It was just the right time for the industry to go digital.

In Europe IES gets a bit side lined by Eulumdat and
the various proprietary plugins for Dialux etc. Although, I
think that Relux and AGI32 are based on the IES format
and just package some other information with it.


Regards,
Thomas