ScreenTek is proud to provide you this glossary of common terms in the laptop LCD screen industry, and in the laptop notebook industry. Feel free to become more familiar with the terms we use throughout our site. If you notice any glaring omissions, we'd be glad to hear about those. Drop us a line at sales@screentekinc.com.

Optics Terms » 22 definitions

Angle of incidence

The angle at which a ray of light strikes the surface of an object. A ray of light located directly in front of a surface has an angle of incidence of 0 degrees. In addition, the angle of incidence always equals the angle of reflection.

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Angle of reflection

The angle at which a ray of light is reflected from the surface of an object. A ray of light reflected directly back to the light emitting source has an angle of reflection of 0 degrees. In addition, the angle of incidence always equals the angle of reflection.

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Color chromaticity (CIE)

The aspect of color that includes consideration of its dominant wavelength and purity.

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Color saturation

Refers to the intensity of a color or is a measurement of its purity.

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Color temperature

A simplified way to characterize the spectral properties of a light source. Lower color temperature indicated warmer light (red/yellow), while high color temperature indicated a colder (blue) light.

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Diffuse reflection

A reflection from a rough or matte surface which creates a beam of scattered light, with no directional dependence. In the image at right, the green lines represent the image and the light blue lines represent the reflected image.

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Glare

A beam or ray of light being emitted from a light source. Glare is commonly, yet incorrectly, used in place of technically a phenomenon related to the surrounding environment of a display, and as such, is beyond the ability of the display engineer to directly control. As used commonly by display users, however, glare refers to a reflection from the display which is highly distracting. Typically a user will call an obvious reflection of a white shirt in a display as a glare which reduces his ability to perform his tasks. This is actually more correctly a specular reflection (see Reflections on Reflections). Treatments of the surface to minimize this are referred to as antiglare or antireflection treatments. Antireflection treatments reduce the difference in refractive index between air and the display in a way which is the optical equivalent to impedance matching in electronics. Antiglare treatments, on the other hand, leave the impedance mismatch present, but cause the reflections to be scattered into all directions.

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Illuminance

The total luminous flux incident per unit area. It refers to the amount of incident light.

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Illuminance meter

Measures the brightness of illuminated objects.

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Lambertian distribution

A sum of reflections in all directions. When a surface is composed of numerous surfaces, such as a polarizer, the overall observed reflection becomes the sum of the individual reflection. This is characterized by a distribution known as the Lambertian distribution. In the image at right, the green lines represent the incoming light and the blue lines the reflected light. Taken in aggregate, the blue lines make up the lambertian distribution of light reflected from the surface.

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Luminance

The quality of being luminous, either emitting or reflecting light.

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Luminance meter

Instrument for measuring the amount of light falling on or being reflected by a subject.

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Nit

Unit of luminance. 1 nit = 1 candela / square meter; or, 1 nit = 1 cd/m². It's a measure of brightness for computer monitors, flat panel displays, and LCD screens. Nit is not an SI unit of measure; the SI unit for luminance is candelas per square meter.

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Parallel transmittance %

The degree to which beams of light are reflected from an object pass through a material within a predetermined small range of angles

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Reflection

An occurrence of reflecting; the return of light or sound waves from a surface.

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Reflective

A viewing mode which uses ambient or other front lighting to provide the illumination for the display.

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Refraction

The change in direction of a wave passing from one medium to another caused by its change in speed.

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Refraction index

The ratio of the speed of radiation (as light) in one medium (as a vacuum) to that in another medium.

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Specular reflection

A well defined beam resulting from reflection off of a smooth surface. In the image at right, the green lines represent the image and the light blue lines represent the reflected image.

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Support color

The amount of color that can be displayed

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Transmittance

The fraction of incident light at a specified wavelength that passes through a sample.

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Wavelength

The distance between one peak of a wave and another, both in the same wave pattern.

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Glossary index

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