Class Name: Diffuse Color

Superclass - SEDRIS Abstract Base

Definition

The diffuse reflectance component of a Primitive Color.

Diffuse Color is

• dependent on the angle of the lit object to the light source
• independent of the angle of the lit object to the observer.

Surfaces exhibiting only diffuse reflection (also known as Lambertian reflection) are dull, matte surfaces that appear equally bright from all viewing angles. When a beam of light is reflected from such a surface, the reflected ray is diffused to cover an area whose size is inversely proportional to the cosine of the angle that the beam makes with the surface normal.
Diffuse reflection provides what is known as "shape from shading" information to visual perception; that is, for a surface composed of a single substance and illuminated by a single light source, the shading of the object can be used to compute its surface normals (i.e., its shape).

See 16.1.2, "Diffuse Reflection" of Computer Graphics: Principles and Practice, by Foley, van Dam, et. al, 2nd edition, Addison-Wesley, 1991 for further discussion of diffuse reflectance.

Primary Page in DRM Diagram:

• 14

Secondary Pages in DRM Diagram:

• 21

Example

See Primitive Color.

FAQs

Does SEDRIS use the OpenGL lighting model?

No, although the terminology is similar. SEDRIS handles transparency somewhat differently than OpenGL does, among other things. For a description of the OpenGL lighting model, see Woo et. al., Chapter 5 "Lighting" of OpenGL Programming Guide, 3rd ed., Addison-Wesley 1999.

Constraints

Composed of (one-way)

• one Color Data

Component of (one-way)

• optionally, a Light Source
• optionally, a Primitive Color