numerical aperture

A lens magnifies by bending light (see refraction). Optical microscopes are restricted in their ability to resolve features by a phenomenon called diffraction which, based on the numerical aperture (NA or AN) of the optical system and the wavelengths of light used (λ), sets a definite limit (d) to the optical resolution. Assuming that optical aberrations are negligible, the resolu ...

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Microscope, Microscope - Simple optical microscope, Microscope - Compound optical microscope, Microscope - The Parts of the Microscope, Microscope - Stereo microscope, Microscope - Special designs, Microscope - Optical resolution, Microscope - History of the microscope, Microscope - Other types of microscopes

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Commercialized HD DVD's will integrate protection technology that is expected to be developed by AACS LA (Advanced Access Content System License Administrator). Audio Watermark Protection is also being created for use on HD DVD. All HD-DVD players will have a sensor that listens for inaudible watermarks in the soundtrack of movies, and will be included in the soundtracks of all major movies. If a DVD player detects the code, the disc must be an illegal copy made by copying a film to video, or using a camcorder and microphone on a cinema scre ...

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HD DVD, HD DVD - Overview, HD DVD - History, HD DVD - Common Disc Structure, HD DVD - The Blue Laser, HD DVD - Protection Technology, HD DVD - Controversies, HD DVD - Partial list of announced HD DVD launch releases, HD DVD - Complete List of 24 Launch Titles by Warner Home Video, HD DVD - Complete List of 20 Launch Titles by Paramount Home Entertainment, HD DVD - Complete List of 20 Launch Titles by Universal Studios Home Entertainment

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An optical fiber (american spelling) or fibre (english spelling) is a cylindrical dielectric waveguide that transmits light along its axis, by the process of total internal reflection. The fiber consists of a core surrounded by a cladding layer. For the fiber to guide the optical signal the refractive index of the core must be greater than that of the cladding so that light can be confined to the guiding layer by total internal reflection. The boundary between the core and cladding may either be abrupt, in step-index ...

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Optical fiber, Optical fiber - Optical description, Optical fiber - Materials, Optical fiber - Optical fiber communication, Optical fiber - Comparison with electrical transmission, Optical fiber - Governing standards, Optical fiber - Other uses of optical fibers, Optical fiber - Fiber Optic Sensors, Optical fiber - Manufacture, Optical fiber - Optical fiber cables, Optical fiber - History, Optical fiber - Footnotes

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Fibers are widely used in illumination applications. They are used as light guides in medical and other applications where bright light needs to be brought to bear on a target without a clear line-of-sight path. In some buildings, optical fibers are used to route sunlight from the roof to other parts of the building (see non-imaging optics). Optical fiber illumination is also used for decorative appli ...

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Optical fiber, Optical fiber - Optical description, Optical fiber - Materials, Optical fiber - Optical fiber communication, Optical fiber - Comparison with electrical transmission, Optical fiber - Governing standards, Optical fiber - Other uses of optical fibers, Optical fiber - Fiber Optic Sensors, Optical fiber - Manufacture, Optical fiber - Optical fiber cables, Optical fiber - History, Optical fiber - Footnotes

Read more here: » Optical fiber: Encyclopedia II - Optical fiber - Other uses of optical fibers

Optical fibers can be used as sensors to measure strain, temperature, pressure and other parameters. The small size and the fact that no electrical power is needed at the remote location gives the fiber optic sensor advantages to conventional electrical sensor in certain applications. Optical fibers are used as hydrophones for seismic or SONAR applications. Hydrophone systems with more than 100 sensors per fiber cable have been developed. Hydrophone sensor systems are used by the oil industry as well as a few countries' navies. Both b ...

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Optical fiber, Optical fiber - Optical description, Optical fiber - Materials, Optical fiber - Optical fiber communication, Optical fiber - Comparison with electrical transmission, Optical fiber - Governing standards, Optical fiber - Other uses of optical fibers, Optical fiber - Fiber Optic Sensors, Optical fiber - Manufacture, Optical fiber - Optical fiber cables, Optical fiber - History, Optical fiber - Footnotes

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Optical fiber is made by first constructing a large-diameter preform, with a carefully controlled refractive index profile, and then pulling the preform to form the long, thin optical fiber. The preform is commonly made by three chemical vapor deposition methods: inside vapor deposition, outside vapor deposition, and vapor axial deposition. In inside vapor deposition, a hollow glass tube approximately 40 cm in length known as a "preform" is placed horizontally and rotated slowly on a lathe, and gases ...

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Optical fiber, Optical fiber - Optical description, Optical fiber - Materials, Optical fiber - Optical fiber communication, Optical fiber - Comparison with electrical transmission, Optical fiber - Governing standards, Optical fiber - Other uses of optical fibers, Optical fiber - Fiber Optic Sensors, Optical fiber - Manufacture, Optical fiber - Optical fiber cables, Optical fiber - History, Optical fiber - Footnotes

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In practical fibers, the cladding is usually coated with a tough resin buffer layer, which may be further surrounded by a jacket layer, usually plastic. These layers add strength to the fiber but do not contribute to its optical wave guide properties. For indoor applications, the jacketed fiber is generally enclosed, with a bundle of flexible fibrous polymer (e.g. Kevlar) strength members, in a lightweight plastic cover to form a simple cable. Each end of the cable may be terminated with a specialized optical fiber connector to allow it to be easily connected and d ...

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Optical fiber, Optical fiber - Optical description, Optical fiber - Materials, Optical fiber - Optical fiber communication, Optical fiber - Comparison with electrical transmission, Optical fiber - Governing standards, Optical fiber - Other uses of optical fibers, Optical fiber - Fiber Optic Sensors, Optical fiber - Manufacture, Optical fiber - Optical fiber cables, Optical fiber - History, Optical fiber - Footnotes

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20th Century Fox: Behind Enemy Lines Fantastic Four Ice Age Kiss of the Dragon LXG Artisan Entertainment: Basic Instinct* Lions Gate Films: The Devil's Rejects Dune (2000) Lord Of War The Punisher Rambo: First Blood Reservoir Dogs Saw See No EvilSee also:

Blu-ray Disc, Blu-ray Disc - Variations and sizes, Blu-ray Disc - Technology, Blu-ray Disc - Laser and optics, Blu-ray Disc - Hard-coating technology, Blu-ray Disc - Codecs, Blu-ray Disc - Java Software Support, Blu-ray Disc - Compatibility, Blu-ray Disc - Region codes, Blu-ray Disc - Digital Rights Management, Blu-ray Disc - Applications, Blu-ray Disc - Stand-alone recorders and games consoles, Blu-ray Disc - PC data storage, Blu-ray Disc - Corporate support, Blu-ray Disc - Complete List of Announced BD Launch Releases, Blu-ray Disc - Alternatives, Blu-ray Disc - Trivia

Read more here: » Blu-ray Disc: Encyclopedia II - Blu-ray Disc - Complete List of Announced BD Launch Releases

Optical fiber is a cylindrical dielectric waveguide that transmits light along its axis. The fiber consists of a core surrounded by a cladding layer. For the fiber to guide the optical signal the refractive index of the core must be slightly higher than that of the cladding. The boundary between the core and cladding may either be abrupt, in step-index fiber, or gradual, in graded-index fiber. Fiber with large core diameter, called multi-mode fiber (from the electromagnetic analysis, see below), may ...

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Optical fiber, Optical fiber - Optical description, Optical fiber - Materials, Optical fiber - Optical fiber communication, Optical fiber - Comparison with electrical transmission, Optical fiber - Governing standards, Optical fiber - Other uses of optical fibers, Optical fiber - Fiber Optic Sensors, Optical fiber - Manufacture, Optical fiber - Optical fiber cables, Optical fiber - History, Optical fiber - Footnotes

Read more here: » Optical fiber: Encyclopedia II - Optical fiber - Optical description

The history of dielectric optical lightguides goes back to Victorian times, when the total internal reflection principle was used to illuminate streams of water in elaborate public fountains. Later development, in the early-to-mid twentieth century, focused on the development of fiber bundles for image transmission, with the primary application being the medical gastroscope. The first fiber optic semi-flexible gastroscope was patented by Basil Hirschowitz, C. Wilbur Peters, and Lawrence E. Curtiss in 1956. In the process of developing the ga ...

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Optical fiber, Optical fiber - Optical description, Optical fiber - Materials, Optical fiber - Optical fiber communication, Optical fiber - Comparison with electrical transmission, Optical fiber - Governing standards, Optical fiber - Other uses of optical fibers, Optical fiber - Fiber Optic Sensors, Optical fiber - Manufacture, Optical fiber - Optical fiber cables, Optical fiber - History, Optical fiber - Footnotes

Read more here: » Optical fiber: Encyclopedia II - Optical fiber - History

DVD-Audio is a format for delivering high-fidelity audio content on a DVD. It offers many channels (from mono to 5.1 surround sound) at various sampling frequencies and sample rates. Compared to the CD format, the much higher capacity DVD format enables the inclusion of either considerably more music (with respect to total running time and quantity of songs) or far higher audio quality (reflected by higher linear sampling rates and hi ...

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DVD, DVD - History, DVD - Technical information, DVD - DVD-Video, DVD - Restrictions, DVD - Region codes, DVD - DVD-Audio, DVD - Security, DVD - Players and recorders, DVD - Competitors and successors, DVD - Direct-to-DVD

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Modern DVD recorders often support additional formats, including DVD+/-R/RW, CD-R/RW, MP3, WMA, SVCD, JPEG, PNG, SVG, KAR and MPEG-4 (DivX/XviD). Some also include USB ports or flash memory readers. Many players are priced from under $/€ 25 and recorders from $/€ 50. DVD drives for computers usually come with one of two kinds of Regional Playback Control (RPC), either RPC-1 or RPC-2; This is used to enforce the publisher's restrictions on what regions of the world ...

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DVD, DVD - History, DVD - Technical information, DVD - DVD-Video, DVD - Restrictions, DVD - Region codes, DVD - DVD-Audio, DVD - Security, DVD - Players and recorders, DVD - Competitors and successors, DVD - Direct-to-DVD

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There are several possible successors to DVD being developed by different consortiums: Sony/Panasonic's Blu-ray Disc (BD), Toshiba's HD DVD and Maxell's Holographic Versatile Disc(HVD). The first generation of holographic media with 300 GB of storage capacity and a 160 Mbit/s transfer rate is scheduled for release in late 2006 by Maxell and its partner, InPhase. On November 18, 2003, the Chinese news agency Xinhua reported the final standard of the Chinese government-sponsored Enhanced Versatile Disc (EVD), and several patents for it. However, since then the forma ...

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DVD, DVD - History, DVD - Technical information, DVD - DVD-Video, DVD - Restrictions, DVD - Region codes, DVD - DVD-Audio, DVD - Security, DVD - Players and recorders, DVD - Competitors and successors, DVD - Direct-to-DVD

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It is impossible to say who invented the compound microscope. Dutch spectacle-makers Hans Janssen and his son Zacharias Janssen are often said to have invented the first compound microscope in 1590, but this was a declaration by Zacharias Janssen himself halfway through the 17th century. The date is certainly not likely, as it has been shown that Zacharias Janssen actually was just about born in 1590. Another favorite for the title of 'inventor of the microscope' was Galileo Galilei. He developed an occhiolino or compound microscope w ...

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Microscope, Microscope - Simple optical microscope, Microscope - Compound optical microscope, Microscope - The Parts of the Microscope, Microscope - Stereo microscope, Microscope - Special designs, Microscope - Optical resolution, Microscope - History of the microscope, Microscope - Other types of microscopes

Read more here: » Microscope: Encyclopedia II - Microscope - History of the microscope

See also: Fear, uncertainty and doubt Sources at Hewlett Packard and other industry groups claim that Microsoft and Intel are misleading consumers about the Blu-Ray Disc format and offering bonuses to PC retailers to support HD-DVD over Blu-Ray. [3] [4] Blu-Ray also receives support from some cinema companies, and is slated to be the standard media format for the PlayStation 3. The failure to include HD-DVD support in the Xbox 360 has been widely criticized in the press, although a HD-DVD drive will be sold as an external ...

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HD DVD, HD DVD - Overview, HD DVD - History, HD DVD - Common Disc Structure, HD DVD - The Blue Laser, HD DVD - Protection Technology, HD DVD - Controversies

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The primary rival to Blu-ray is HD DVD, championed by Toshiba, NEC Corporation, Microsoft, and Intel. It has a lower data density and thus less disc capacity, but could in principle benefit from lower manufacturing costs for both the drive units and the pre-recorded/recordable media. On November 29, 2004 four Hollywood studios (New Line Cinema, Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios and Warner Bros.) announced non-exclusive agreements to support HD DVD. Since that time, Paramount and Warner have chosen ...

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Blu-ray Disc, Blu-ray Disc - Variations and sizes, Blu-ray Disc - Technology, Blu-ray Disc - Laser and optics, Blu-ray Disc - Hard-coating technology, Blu-ray Disc - Codecs, Blu-ray Disc - Java Software Support, Blu-ray Disc - Compatibility, Blu-ray Disc - Region codes, Blu-ray Disc - Digital Rights Management, Blu-ray Disc - Applications, Blu-ray Disc - Stand-alone recorders and games consoles, Blu-ray Disc - PC data storage, Blu-ray Disc - Corporate support, Blu-ray Disc - Complete List of Announced BD Launch Releases, Blu-ray Disc - Alternatives, Blu-ray Disc - Trivia

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As laser scanning confocal microscopy is a scanning imaging technique the way the resolution is obtained might be best explained by comparing it with another scanning technique like Scanning electron microscope (SEM). Not to be confused with Phonograph, AFM or STM, where the image is obtained by scanning with an atomic tip over a conducting surface, while associating a discrete tunnel current with each area element of the surface. If the tip is blunt, i.e. it consists of several atoms, the reso ...

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Confocal laser scanning microscopy, Confocal laser scanning microscopy - Image formation, Confocal laser scanning microscopy - Resolution enhancement by the confocal principle

Read more here: » Confocal laser scanning microscopy: Encyclopedia II - Confocal laser scanning microscopy - Resolution enhancement by the confocal principle

DVDs are made from a 0.6 mm thick disc of polycarbonate plastic coated with a much thinner reflective layer of aluminium or gold. Two such discs are glued together to form a 1.2 mm disc that can be designed to be read from one side (single sided) or both sides (double sided). The substrates are half as thick as a CD to make it possible to use a lens with a higher numerical aperture and therefore use smaller pits and narrower tracks. A single-layer DVD can store 4.7 GB, which is around seven times as much as a standard CD-ROM. By emplo ...

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DVD, DVD - History, DVD - Technical information, DVD - DVD-Video, DVD - Restrictions, DVD - Region codes, DVD - DVD-Audio, DVD - Security, DVD - Players and recorders, DVD - Competitors and successors, DVD - Direct-to-DVD

Read more here: » DVD: Encyclopedia II - DVD - Technical information

DVD-Video discs require a DVD-drive with an MPEG-2 decoder (e.g. a DVD-player or a DVD computer drive with a software DVD player). Commercial DVD movies are encoded using a combination of MPEG-2 compressed video and audio of varying formats (often multi-channel formats as described below). Typical data rates for DVD movies range from 3–10 Mbit/s, and the bit rate is usually adaptive. The video resolution on NTSC discs is 720 × 480 and on PAL discs is 720 × 576. A high number of audio tracks and/or lots of extra material on the disc will often result in a lower bit rate (and ima ...

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DVD, DVD - History, DVD - Technical information, DVD - DVD-Video, DVD - Restrictions, DVD - Region codes, DVD - DVD-Audio, DVD - Security, DVD - Players and recorders, DVD - Competitors and successors, DVD - Direct-to-DVD

Read more here: » DVD: Encyclopedia II - DVD - DVD-Video

20th Century Fox: Behind Enemy Lines Fantastic Four Ice Age Kiss Of The Dragon League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen Artisan Entertainment: Basic Instinct* Lions Gate Films: The Devil's Rejects Dune 2000 Lord Of War The Punisher Rambo: First Blood Reservoir Dogs Saw See No EvilSee also:

Blu-ray Disc, Blu-ray Disc - Variations and sizes, Blu-ray Disc - Technology, Blu-ray Disc - Laser and optics, Blu-ray Disc - Hard-coating technology, Blu-ray Disc - Codecs, Blu-ray Disc - Java Software Support, Blu-ray Disc - Compatibility, Blu-ray Disc - Region codes, Blu-ray Disc - Digital Rights Management, Blu-ray Disc - Applications, Blu-ray Disc - Stand-alone recorders and games consoles, Blu-ray Disc - PC data storage, Blu-ray Disc - Corporate support, Blu-ray Disc - Complete List of Announced BD Launch Releases, Blu-ray Disc - Alternatives, Blu-ray Disc - Trivia

Read more here: » Blu-ray Disc: Encyclopedia II - Blu-ray Disc - Complete List of Announced BD Launch Releases

HD-DVD initially received more support than Blu-ray from film studios and distributors. One commonly cited reason is that it is less expensive to convert a production line from DVDs to HD DVDs than to convert to Blu-ray. This early lead has vanished because it would be easy for the counterfeiters as well. As expected, Sony's subsidiaries Sony Pictures Entertainment and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer have both announced their support for the Blu-ray Disc format. On October 3, 2004 20th Century Fox announced that it was joining the ...

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Blu-ray Disc, Blu-ray Disc - Variations and sizes, Blu-ray Disc - Technology, Blu-ray Disc - Laser and optics, Blu-ray Disc - Hard-coating technology, Blu-ray Disc - Codecs, Blu-ray Disc - Java Software Support, Blu-ray Disc - Compatibility, Blu-ray Disc - Region codes, Blu-ray Disc - Digital Rights Management, Blu-ray Disc - Applications, Blu-ray Disc - Stand-alone recorders and games consoles, Blu-ray Disc - PC data storage, Blu-ray Disc - Corporate support, Blu-ray Disc - Complete List of Announced BD Launch Releases, Blu-ray Disc - Alternatives, Blu-ray Disc - Trivia

Read more here: » Blu-ray Disc: Encyclopedia II - Blu-ray Disc - Corporate support