The initial charter of Hoffman Engineering enabled it to support the photometric needs of the aircraft panel and instrument manufacturers. At that time, color and luminance requirements were becoming stricter and these companies did not have the equipment necessary to measure their performance. The company designs and manufactures products such as contact photometers, luminance targets, integrating spheres, laboratory power supplies and luminance standards. Hoffman Engineering serves as a National Institute of Standards traceable laboratory. Many defense companies have designated it as a source for MIL-STD-45662 photometric and radiometric calibrations. J. Gordon Hoffman founded Hoffman Engineering in 1955.