Photonics Dictionary

A camera with a very high aperture lens or mirror system for photographing x-ray fluorescent screen images, mainly to save the cost of large pieces of 11 x 14-in. film. The film may be 4 x 5-in. cut...

A lens having an extremely high aperture and used in the recording of x-ray fluorescent screen images. It often is specially designed for the camera, the color of the light and the image...

The photographic recording of a visible image formed by the impact of invisible radiation on a fluorescent screen.

A form of image intensifier designed to amplify a weak fluoroscopic image. The image is received at an input phosphor screen, as opposed to the light-sensitive electrode emitter used in regular image...

1. A mechanism that permits the focusing of an optical system.2. A means of obtaining the sharpest image from a cathode-ray tube display by adjusting the size of the spot where it reaches the screen.

1. To center an image or place it in any part of the television screen desired. Also applies to stills. 2. A single image of the connected multiple images on motion-picture film. 3. The size of the...

1. Also known as near-field diffraction. The field of radiation sent through an aperture in an absorbing screen at large distances as compared with the wavelength and the dimensions of the aperture,...

A computer hardware unit that generates required functional information on the screen by controlling CRT beam movements or intensity.

Also known as amplification. 1. The increase in a signal that is transmitted from one point to another through an amplifier. A material that exhibits gain rather than absorption, at certain...

Graphene is a two-dimensional allotrope of carbon consisting of a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice pattern. It is the basic building block of other carbon-based materials...

1. In a cathode-ray tube, the glow surrounding a bright spot that appears on the fluorescent screen as the result of the screen's light being reflected by the front and rear surfaces of the tube's...

A plate containing a uniform pattern of transparent holes in an opaque background, the clear area being nearly equal to the opaque area. Used in the printing process.

Text or images printed on paper or another tangible medium, as opposed to those viewed electronically on a cathode-ray-tube screen.

Also known as HCS, an analytical method designed to collect statistically relevant amounts of quantitative data on many parallel cell populations or processes within cells through the combination of...

A screen with a reflected or transmitted light beam that is confined to a much smaller bundle than was received by the screen, thereby resulting in a higher luminance.

In television, the period during which the electron beam is cut off while the raster returns from the right-hand side of the screen to the left.

An electro-optic system using, in general form, an evacuated glass envelope with a semitransparent photocathode at one end and a luminescent screen at the other for the amplification of an optical...

An electron tube that employs electromagnetic radiation to produce a visual replica of an image produced on its cathode. Electrons ejected from the cathode by the incident radiation are accelerated...

In computer graphics, the coordinated two-dimensional or three-dimensional area of increased resolution where graphics entities may be defined. The screen represents a viewing window for this area,...

An image intensifier, also known as an image intensification tube or image intensification device, is a specialized electronic device used to amplify low-light-level images to make them visible to...

A plane in which an image is formed. A real image formed by a positive lens would be visible upon a screen located in this plane.

A type of electroluminescent display that will record and maintain an irradiated image on its phosphor screen, provided a DC potential is applied to the screen. Used to record x-ray images, the...

A camera system in which the image formed on the fluorescent screen of an image converter tube in the system is recorded by photography or direct contact printing from the face of the tube.

A thermal infrared imaging procedure developed for quality control of printed circuit boards. The thermogram of each board under test is compared with a standard thermal profile and then with a...

Photographic recording that uses infrared radiation as the light source to form an image of a microscopic object and a system of lenses and objectives that are transparent to the radiation. The image...

I/O stands for input/output. In computing, it refers to the communication between a computer system or program and its external environment, including peripherals, storage devices, networks, and...

A device, consisting of a diode activated by an interference pulse, that is designed to minimize the white spots on a television screen that are intensified by interference.

A type of geometrical distortion that brings about a trapezoidal display of a nominally rectangular picture. Usually produced when a picture is projected abnormally to the screen.

A cathode-ray tube that serves as a picture tube in a television receiver. The signal representing the picture intensity is transmitted to the electron gun grid so that the beam intensity varies with...

A lab-on-a-chip (LOC) is a miniaturized device that integrates various laboratory functions and capabilities onto a single, compact chip. Also known as microfluidic devices, lab-on-a-chip systems are...

Lens testing equipment refers to a range of specialized tools and instruments used to evaluate the optical performance, quality, and characteristics of lenses. These instruments are essential for...

An ophthalmic instrument used to measure the magnitude and direction of the maximum and minimum powers of a spectacle lens, and mark the optical center of the lens by an ink dot. When the lens to be...

An array or mosaic of optical surfaces. May be a number of lenses closely packed to form multiple images or many parallel cylinders used as a projection screen.

A rear or front projection screen composed of minute optical surfaces that introduce a spread to the light beam that conforms approximately to the light distribution requirements of the application.

A type of stereoscopic photography in which a pair of lenses focuses a pair of images, relative to the positions of the two eyes, onto film through a lenticular screen, which records the images as an...

Liquid crystals are a state of matter that exhibits properties intermediate between those of conventional liquids and solid crystals. In a liquid crystal, the molecules are ordered like those in a...

Liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) is a display technology that combines liquid crystal materials with silicon-based semiconductor technology to create high-resolution, high-quality images. LCoS...

A Mach-Zehnder interferometer is an optical device used to measure the phase difference between two collimated beams of light. It is named after the physicists Ludwig Mach and Ludwig Zehnder, who...

1. A framelike structure that serves to restrict the viewing area of the screen when placed before a television picture tube. 2. In photolithography, a photomask (or mask) is typically a patterned...

A term used to describe a nondirectionally diffusing surface that, when illuminated, appears equally bright from all angles. An example of this kind of surface is the screen used for the forward...

A sensing or image-forming detector that serves to convert infrared rays into visible signals for communication purposes. Also, a form of telescope that generates visible images on a fluorescent...

Micro-LED (micro-light-emitting diode) refers to a technology that involves the use of very small light-emitting diodes to create displays and lighting systems. These LEDs are miniature versions of...

A microchannel plate (MCP) is a specialized electron multiplier device used in various applications such as particle detection, imaging, spectroscopy, and night vision technology. It consists of a...

A microdisplay is a miniature electronic display technology that is designed to project visual information onto a small screen. Unlike traditional displays, microdisplays are typically very compact...

A device used to view microfilmed documents where the image on film is projected, in magnified form, onto a rear projection screen for viewing.

A fluoroscope equipped with a magnified, fine-grained fluorescent screen to determine the fluorescence emitted by a microscopic source.

A mixed-signal oscilloscope (MSO) is a type of electronic test instrument that combines the capabilities of both a traditional oscilloscope and a logic analyzer. It is designed to capture and display...