Hello Everybody
I would like to know more about Reflectivity, Reflectance, Reflection and their differences. Where I can use them in a scientific paper? Or Can we use them instead of each 0ther sometimes?
I had to look up reflectivity, myself before answering. These terms do get cast about a little carelessly, but “reflection” generally applies to the light that is reflected from a surface or object, not how it happens.
Reflectance is the quality and amount of reflection a particular surface or material produces based on angle, surface thickness, local properties, etc. This is our main concern in a lighting simulation.
Reflectivity is the total or average reflectance of a thick surface – too thick for light to penetrate(?) The definition I found is below:
So, “reflectivity” and “reflectance” are probably close enough to be used interchageably, but reflectance is the preferred term in Radiance.
Cheers,
-Greg
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