A standard illuminant is a theoretical source of visible light with a spectral power distribution that is published. Standard illuminants provide a basis for comparing images or colors recorded under different lighting. CIE illuminants The International Commission on Illumination (usually abbreviated CIE for its French name) is the body responsible for publishing all of the well-known standard illuminants. Each of these is known by a letter or by a letter-number combination. Illuminants A, B, and C were introduced in 1931, with the intention of respectively representing average incandescent light, direct sunlight, and average daylight. Illuminants D represent variations of daylight, illuminant E is the equal-energy illuminant, while illuminants F represent fluorescent lamps of various composition. There are instructions on how to experimentally produce light sources ("standard sources") corresponding to the older illuminants. For the relatively newer ones (such as series D), experimenters are left to measure to profiles of their sources and compare them to the published spectra: Nevertheless, they do provide a measure, called the metamerism index, to assess the quality of daylight simulators. The Metamerism Index tests how well five sets of metameric samples match under the test and reference illuminant. In a manner similar to the color rendering index, the average difference between the metamers is calculated. Illuminant A The CIE defines illuminant A in these terms: The spectral radiant exitance of a black body follows Planck's law: At the time of standardizing illuminant A, both (which does not affect the relative SPD) and were different. In 1968, the estimate of c2 was revised from 0.01438 m·K to 0.014388 m·K (and before that, it was 0.01435 m·K when illuminant A was standardized). This difference shifted the Planckian locus, changing the color temperature of the illuminant from its nominal 2848 K to 2856 K: In order to avoid further possible changes in the color temperature, the CIE now specifies the SPD directly, based on the original (1931) value of c2: The coefficients have been selected to achieve a normalized SPD of at . The tristimulus values are , and the chromaticity coordinates using the standard observer are . Illuminants B and C Illuminants B and C are easily achieved daylight simulations. They modify illuminant A by using liquid filters. B served as a representative of noon sunlight, with a correlated color temperature (CCT) of 4874 K, while C represented average day light with a CCT of 6774 K.