In evaluating the characteristics of retroreflective materials for traffic signs, it is most important that the samples are observed under conditions similar to those on highways particularly at night, i. e. , the samples are illuminated at a great distance with a narrow light beam at various incident angles and their characteristics are measured at certain small observation angle. A photometric system has been constructed for the observation. It is composed of four parts; a light projector, a goniometric device for sample control, a colorimetric luminence-meter and a personal computer for on-line data processing. Each part of the system and results of measurements are described and discussed in comparison with those of the existing standard method. A suggestion is also made for estimating reflectivity by measuring luminence.