A detailed knowledge of the light distribution characteristics through advanced window systems is required to improve the visual comfort of the building's occupants while controlling the propagation of daylight in rooms and the solar gains. An innovative bidirectional goniophotometer has recently been set up for this purpose, using digital image capture and the projection of the emerging light on a diffusing screen. It therefore provides a continuous investigation of the bidirectional transmission figures in a time-efficient way. This instrument was converted into a double-purpose device, allowing both transmission and reflection measurements, which induced several strong constraints due to the conflict of incident and emerging light flux in reflection mode: on one hand the incident beam had to be restricted to the sample area only; on the other hand, as the screen obstructed the incoming light flux in some positions, a special opening in the latter was required. The practical answer to these constraints, detailed in this paper, proved to be reliable, appropriate and efficient. (c) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.