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LightTools Capabilities Matrix

Optical System

Number of optical elements allowed	Unlimited
Number of wavelengths allowed	Unlimited
Linear dimension options	Inches, nm, mm, cm, meters
Macro language	Yes (model creation, manipulation, analysis)
Number of sources allowed (Illumination only)	Unlimited
Number of receivers allowed (Illumination only)	Unlimited
Number of imaging paths allowed	Unlimited
Number of fields (imaging paths only)	Unlimited
Pupil specification options (imaging paths only)	Entrance pupil diameter Numerical aperture at object
Field specification options (imaging paths only)	Field angle (infinite conjugate) Object height (finite conjugate)
Reference rays (imaging paths only)	Chief ray plus unlimited reference ray definition (number and position)
Aperture stop (imaging paths only)	Definable on any optical surface
Automatic and user-defined data setting	Pupil specification (EPD or NAO) Vignetting (moves all reference rays)

Optical Elements

Surface shapes	Plane, Sphere, Conic Cylinder (X or Y) Toroid (X or Y, with 20th order aspheric profile) Polynomial asphere (20th order) Swept spline (input via macro) Spline patch (input via macro) Anamorphic asphere (20th order) Odd-power polynomial asphere (30th order) Zernike (65 terms) XY Polynomial (10th degree) Superconic (20th order)
Radius specifications	Radius or curvature
Radius type solves (imaging paths only)	Marginal or chief ray slope Marginal or chief ray angle of incidence Marginal or chief ray height Aplanatic (marginal or chief ray)
Thickness solve types (imaging paths only)	Marginal or chief ray height Paraxial image location
Number of solves per element	4 (2 radii and 2 thicknesses, imaging paths only)
Surface characteristics - refract mode (can be applied to any surface shape)	Refract (fails on TIR) Reflect TIR only (fails on refract) TIR (refract or reflect, depending on angle of incidence) Split (refract and reflect, unless TIR) Absorb (stops rays) Mechanical (stops rays) Diffract
Surface Scattering	Lambertian, Gaussian, cosn, user-defined, mixed distributions, elliptical Gaussian (BSDF)
Volume Scattering	Mie, user-defined, or Henyey Greenstein
Importance Sampling	Yes, via aim area and/or aim sphere
Surface properties	Transmittance Reflectance User-defined coatings Polarizing properties (ideal linear polarizer or retarder) Fresnel loss (calculated transmittance/ reflectance) Maximum number of hits per non-sequential ray
Diffractive surface forms	Linear grating Radial polynomial (DOE) XY polynomial (DOE)
Diffraction direction	Transmission, reflection, both (multiple orders allowed)
Glass types	Catalog glass Fictitious (Nd and Vd specified) User materials (optical and non-optical)
Glass entry method	Info dialog box or via Glass Map
Glass catalogs supplied	Schott, Ohara, Hoya, Chance, Corning France, Kodak, Baush & Lomb, Corning, Special or user material
Aperture shapes allowed	Circular, Rectangular, Arcuate, Ellipse, or Bitmap
Number of apertures per surface	Unlimited
Aperture location	Arbitrary location and orientation on surface

Optical Element Operations

Stretch lens focal point (changes power)	Yes (front or back focal point)
Bend lens (maintains power)	Yes
Cement/Uncement two elements	Yes (cementing changes 2nd radius as necessary)
Immersion	Yes
Scale	Yes
Move	Yes (absolute or by vector)
Copy	Yes (absolute or by vector)
Rotate	Yes (absolute or in pane)
Array	Yes (rectangular or circular)
Fold (maintains 2:1 ratio for old mirrors)	Yes (absolute or in pane)
Group/Ungroup elements	Yes
Align to user-coordinate system	Yes (along any axis)
Delete/Undelete	Yes (unlimited)

Non-optical Elements

Number of non-optical objects allowed	Unlimited
3D object primitives	Block, Cylinder, Sphere Ellipsoid, Toroid Rotationally swept polyline Linear extrusion
2D object types	Lines, Rectangles, Text

Boolean Operations

Types of operations	Union (combine multiple objects into one) Subtract (remove one object from others) Intersect (retain overlap of objects) Trim (slice off an edge)
Unbool operation	Yes, breaks apart into components
Number of Boolean operations allowed	Unlimited
Editing	Yes, all Boolean operations can be edited without the need to re-perform the operation
Applicable objects	All 3D objects, optical or non-optical (except sources)

Non-Sequential Ray Tracing

Ray tracing modes	Single ray Ray fan (point source, virtual point source, parallel fan) Ray grid (point source, virtual point source, parallel grid)
Invoking procedure	Point-and-shoot (select type, starting point, and direction)
Automatic update	Yes, upon any optical system change
Physical representation	Exact replication of behavior in 3D space, including splitting, TIR, multiple-order diffraction, scattering, etc.
Visualization	Color, line width, line style, show/no show all user-selectable

Views

3D View	Wireframe, translucent, solid
2D View	Planar, profile representation of 3D model
Table view	User-definable tables of components, sources, imaging paths, or non-sequential rays
Special purpose views	Non-sequential grid footprints on selected surface Performance coating editor
Number of open views allowed	Unlimited
Updating	Automatic updating of all open views
VRML Export	Yes

Construction Tools

Layers	32 maximum (user-defined layer names)
Grid	Dot or quadrille On/Off selectable Show/No show selectable Variable X,Y spacing Color distinction at regular intervals
Grid snap (element positioning)	Snap to grid Snap to X, Y, or Z axis Snap to object Snap to any line Snap to orthogonal direction Enable/disable snap
Coordinate system	Global coordinates User-coordinate system (position and orientation user-selectable)
Positioning	Cartesian (absolute, relative) Spherical coordinates Polar coordinates Position absolute Position relative

Layout Views

Windowing	Pan (by mouse, command buttons, scroll bars, or window center) Zooming (by mouse, fixed factor or by selectable window) Fit (each pane individually or fit all panes the same)
Layout panes (3D Design view)	One or four pane Pane size adjustable
Viewpoint default	Front, side, top, isometric (3D Design view) Side (2D Design view, Imaging Path view)
Viewpoint modification (3D Design view only)	Rotate about any axis (mouse or command buttons) Align to front or side of any object Align to any axis of user-coordinate system
Visibility	On/Off by layer or entity type
Rendering resolution	Selectable by slider
Color	Color, saturation, hue, translucence, and shininess selectable by surface type (refract, reflect, absorb, or mechanical surface) Color, line width, and line style selectable for any object

Text Annotation

Text features	Edit Normal, Italic Rotate, Position Scale independently in X,Y Proportional or fixed space, Justify
Ancillary elements	Lines, arrows (in library), boxes
Supplied fonts	15
Maximum number of fonts allowed	Unlimited

Illumination Features (with Illumination Module only)

Source properties	Point source Volume or surface emitter Radiant Imaging source data Sphere, Cylinder, Block, Toroid Polychromatic analysis Emittance control (direction, on/off)
Point source angular distribution	Lambertian, Uniform, User-defined
Surface emitter angular distribution	Lambertian, Uniform, User-defined
Surface emitter spatial distribution	Uniform, user-defined
Volume emitter angular distribution	Uniform, user-defined
Volume emitter volume distribution	Uniform, cylinder, user-defined
Number of sources	Unlimited
Receivers	Attached to surface or far-field User-defined "bins" Dynamic re-binning without re-tracing Dynamic re-focusing without re-tracing
Number of receivers	Unlimited
Ray trace	Fully non-sequential Monte Carlo method (random start point and direction)
Number of rays	Unlimited Optional preview on design views
Output	2D line plots - rectangular and polar Raster pseudo-color, RGB color, or grayscale plots Candela plots Iso-illuminance contour plots 3D surface plots - rectangular and polar Graphical smoothing of ray trace data Scatter plots of Monte Carlo rays on receiver surface Encircle energy plots Tabular displays of encircled energy data Adjustable binning of irradiance/illuminance distributions Display of Monte Carlo rays Labeling with radiometric or photometric units Tab-delimited file import/export of illumination data
Analysis	Irradiance/Illuminance on a surface Luminous intensity of a source Source luminous intensity over a full sphere Encircled flux for a user-defined square, rectangle, circle, oval, and expanding slit Radial and planar symmetry data processing Statistics for the ray data (average, std-dev., max) Summary data of ray termination points Receivers can be moved and the illuminance distribution is automatically updated.

Standard Interfaces

Export	CODE V lens data CODE V plot file PostScript LightTools script Tab-delimited spreadsheet IGES and DXF wireframe VRML export
Import	CODE V lens data LightTools script

Optional Import/Export Interfaces (with Data Exchange Modules)

IGES	writes IGES version 5.3 reads IGES versions up to and including 5.3
STEP	supports AP 203 CC 6 and AP 214 CC 2
SAT	reads and writes versions 1.5, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0
CATIA	reads and writes CATIA V4 and V5

Imaging Paths (with Imaging Path Module only)

Number of imaging paths allowed	Unlimited
Ray tracing types allowed	Sequential or non-sequential
Imaging path definition	By non-sequential ray By surface selection
Imaging path update	By adding objects or surfaces By non-sequential ray
Imaging Path view	Represents a single imaging path (includes lens prescription table with traditional sign conventions)
Field specification	Graphically via Field Spec window
Reference ray specification	Graphically via Pupil Map window
Optical performance plots	Ray aberration curves Spot diagrams
Exportable to CODE V	Yes
Importable from CODE V	Yes

Multi-CPU Support

See LightTools hardware and operating system requirements.