In this work, a robust platform based on black lipid membranes (BLMs) was developed for the characterization of voltage sensitive dyes (VSDs) and membrane ion transport mechanism. For this purpose, lateral BLMs where electrical measurements and fluorescence microscopy setup are combined, were first demonstrated for calibrating di-4-ANEPPS a common VSD. The advantage of the setup is 1) its flexibility in the choice of lipids and the applied voltages, 2) its high stability that enables high voltage (500 mV) application and longtime measurements, and 3) its fluorescence microscopy readout, which can be directly correlated with other fluorescence microscopy experiments using VSDs. Secondly, taking advantage of the high stability, the reported platform was used for the characterization of transport activity and ion selectivity of novel synthetic ionophores based on σ hole interactions. Finally, we also explored the dynamic and structural characteristics of the classic BLMs and we addressed the existing limitations to synchronize electrical and fluorescence recordings in such platforms.