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Diffuse reflection
 
 
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Diffuse reflection is the reflection
Reflection (physics)

Reflection is the change in direction of a wavefront at an wiktionary:interface between two differentmedium so that the wavefront returns into the medium from which it originated....
 of light
Light

Light, or visible light, is electromagnetic radiation of a wavelength that is Visible spectrum to the human eye , or up to 380?750 nm. In the broader field of physics, light is sometimes used to refer to electromagnetic radiation of all wavelengths, whether visible or not....
 from an uneven or granular surface such that an incident ray
Ray (optics)

In optics, a ray is an idealized narrow beam of light. Rays are used to model the propagation of light through an optical system, by dividing the real light field up into discrete rays that can be computationally propagated through the system by the techniques of Ray tracing ....
 is seemingly reflected at a number of angles. It is the complement to specular reflection
Specular reflection

Specular reflection is the perfect, mirror-like reflection of light from a surface, in which light from a single incoming direction is reflected into a single outgoing direction....
. If a surface is completely nonspecular, the reflected light will be evenly spread over the hemisphere
Sphere

A sphere is a symmetrical geometrical object. In non-mathematical usage, the term is used to refer either to a round ball or to its two-dimensional surface....
 surrounding the surface (2p
Pi

Pi or p is a mathematical constant whose value is the ratio of any circle's circumference to its diameter in Euclidean geometry; this is the same value as the ratio of a circle's area to the square of its radius....
 steradian
Steradian

The steradian is the SI unit of solid angle. It is used to describe two-dimensional angular spans in three-dimensional space, analogous to the way in which the radian describes angles in a Plane ....
s).

The most familiar example of the distinction between specular and diffuse reflection would be matte and glossy paint
Paint

Paint is any liquid, liquifiable, or mastic composition which after application to a Substrate in a thin layer is converted to an opaque solid film....
s as used in home painting.






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Diffuse Reflection
Diffuse reflection is the reflection
Reflection (physics)

Reflection is the change in direction of a wavefront at an wiktionary:interface between two differentmedium so that the wavefront returns into the medium from which it originated....
 of light
Light

Light, or visible light, is electromagnetic radiation of a wavelength that is Visible spectrum to the human eye , or up to 380?750 nm. In the broader field of physics, light is sometimes used to refer to electromagnetic radiation of all wavelengths, whether visible or not....
 from an uneven or granular surface such that an incident ray
Ray (optics)

In optics, a ray is an idealized narrow beam of light. Rays are used to model the propagation of light through an optical system, by dividing the real light field up into discrete rays that can be computationally propagated through the system by the techniques of Ray tracing ....
 is seemingly reflected at a number of angles. It is the complement to specular reflection
Specular reflection

Specular reflection is the perfect, mirror-like reflection of light from a surface, in which light from a single incoming direction is reflected into a single outgoing direction....
. If a surface is completely nonspecular, the reflected light will be evenly spread over the hemisphere
Sphere

A sphere is a symmetrical geometrical object. In non-mathematical usage, the term is used to refer either to a round ball or to its two-dimensional surface....
 surrounding the surface (2p
Pi

Pi or p is a mathematical constant whose value is the ratio of any circle's circumference to its diameter in Euclidean geometry; this is the same value as the ratio of a circle's area to the square of its radius....
 steradian
Steradian

The steradian is the SI unit of solid angle. It is used to describe two-dimensional angular spans in three-dimensional space, analogous to the way in which the radian describes angles in a Plane ....
s).

The most familiar example of the distinction between specular and diffuse reflection would be matte and glossy paint
Paint

Paint is any liquid, liquifiable, or mastic composition which after application to a Substrate in a thin layer is converted to an opaque solid film....
s as used in home painting. Matte paints have a higher proportion of diffuse reflection, while gloss paints have a greater part of specular reflection.

Diffuse interreflection is a process whereby light
Light

Light, or visible light, is electromagnetic radiation of a wavelength that is Visible spectrum to the human eye , or up to 380?750 nm. In the broader field of physics, light is sometimes used to refer to electromagnetic radiation of all wavelengths, whether visible or not....
 reflected from an object strikes other objects in the surrounding area, illuminating them. Diffuse interreflection specifically describes light reflected from objects which are not shiny or specular. In real life terms what this means is that light is reflected off non-shiny surfaces such as the ground, walls, or fabric, to reach areas not directly in view of a light source. If the diffuse surface is color
Color

Color or colour is the visual perception property corresponding in humans to the categories called red, yellow, blue and others....
ed, the reflected light is also colored, resulting in similar coloration of surrounding objects.

In 3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics

3D computer graphics are graphics that use a Cartesian coordinate system#Three-dimensional coordinate system representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images....
, diffuse interreflection is an important component of global illumination
Global illumination

Global illumination is a general name for a group of algorithms used in 3D computer graphics that are meant to add more realistic lighting to 3D scenes....
. There are a number of ways to model diffuse interreflection when rendering a scene. Radiosity
Radiosity

Radiosity is a global illumination algorithm used in 3D computer graphics rendering . Radiosity is an application of the finite element method to solving the rendering equation for scenes with purely diffuse surfaces....
 and photon mapping
Photon mapping

In computer graphics, photon mapping is a two-pass global illumination algorithm developed by Henrik Wann Jensen that solves the rendering equation....
 are two commonly used methods.

See also

  • Optics
    Optics

    Optics is the study of the behavior and properties of light including its optical phenomena with matter and its imaging by optical instruments....
  • Diffuser
  • Reflectivity
    Reflectivity

    In photometry and heat transfer, reflectivity is the fraction of incident radiation Reflection by a surface. In general it must be treated as a directional property that is a function of the reflected direction, the incident direction, and the incident wavelength....
  • Lambertian reflectance
    Lambertian reflectance

    If a surface exhibits Lambertian reflectance, light falling on it is scattered such that the apparent brightness of the surface to an observer is the same regardless of the observer's angle of view....
  • Oren–Nayar diffuse model