Verifying a module on your own bench

Datasheet figures describe the module under stated conditions. Your bench describes it under yours. Both matter, and they should be compared deliberately rather than assumed equal.

Reproduce the stated condition first

Before testing against your real target, reproduce the datasheet condition as closely as you can: the stated reflectivity reference, clear air, normal incidence. If the module does not meet its figure under its own condition, that is a fault to report — not a specification to renegotiate.

Then test your real target

Lower reflectivity, poor visibility, oblique incidence and small targets all reduce achievable range. Measure your worst realistic case, not your best.

Record the three integrity figures

Range and accuracy are not the whole picture. Record the valid measurement rate and the false alarm rate over a long run as well: an accurate module that occasionally returns a confidently wrong reading will fail your system in a way a range test never reveals.