Re: NANFA-- Polarization and headlamp questions

Irate Mormon (archimedes_at_bayspringstel.net)
Wed, 17 Mar 2004 13:08:49 -0500

> > Martin pretty much out lined how polarized glasses work. The one lens has
> > "mini blinds" that go vertical in the lens, and the other one has
> horizontal
> > ones. In conjuction is how they work well with the eye. Would this work on
>
> a
> > lens of a light though? I thought the reason it worked as glasses
> reducing
> > glare is because each eye is working together.

It is effective with a single lens if you are able to rotate it. That way you
can find the optimum polarization angle. Photographic polarization filters (the
good ones, anyway) are designed to be rotated for just that reason. So if you
had a set of rotating louvers you might get something similar.

On the fiberoptic front, I recall seeing MANY years ago where somebody took a
bunch of glass fibers, twisted them, and then fused them into a cylinder. He
then took slices of the cylinder. The result was non-distorting glass discs
which would make an obect appear upside down (or rotated to whatever desirable
degree, according to the twist of the fiber bundle).

Anyway, it seems to me that optical fibers should polarize light to certain
extent. The downside of this might be a samll, very conentrated spot of light
projecting from the headlamp. That would be useless for collecting. Maybe I'll
play with it this summer.
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