Difference between revisions of "Terminology"

;ANSI/NEMA FL-1: an industry standard for measuring the performance of flashlights. See [[ANSI-NEMA FL-1|article]].

;AW: a well-regarded brand of rechargeable battery sold on CPF Marketplace. See article [[Rechargeable]].

;beamshot: a picture of the beam of a flashlight, usually on a white wall, or outside on plants.

;buck: a type of electronic circuit that reduces voltage. See article [[Driver]].

;<span id="C">C</span>: capacity - the charge/discharge rate in an hour. For instance discharging a cell rated 1000mAh at 1C means drawing 1000mA and it should last 1 hour; at 0.1C it would draw 100mA and last 10 hours.

;<span id="CRI">CRI</span>: Color Rendering Index - a value indicating how well a light source will show colors, with 100 being a perfect representation.

;DD: direct drive. See article [[Driver]].

;DX: DealExtreme, a direct ship seller of budget brands of flashlights and parts based in China.

;EDC: everyday carry. A flashlight someone keeps on their person all the time. Seems to have been borrowed from handgun forums.

;<span id="emitter">emitter</span>: the actual light-emitting part of an LED assembly.  e.g. a Luxeon star comprises a Luxeon emitter mounted to a star circuit board. Also can be used to describe where lumens are measured, for instance whether lumen output is measured at the emitter or OTF (out the front). See article [[Light Output Measurements]].

;<span id="flood">flood</span>: scattered light emitted from a flashlight. Good for indoor use to light up a room or short-range use outdoors to light up an area. Compare with [[#throw|throw]].

;<span id="forward">forward clicky</span>: a switch that turns the light on with the button partially depressed and then locks into on once it is fully depressed and clicked. This allows "momentary on" by halfway depressing the switch. A forward clicky is not as good for switching modes. Compare with [[#reverse|reverse clicky]].

;GITD/gid: glow in the dark

;HA: hard anodized.  A tough, scratch-resistant treatment applied to aluminum, e.g. for flashlight bodies. See article on [[Materials#Anodizing|Anodizing]].

;hotwire: Generally, a [[Maglite]] that has been modified with special bulbs and batteries to be significantly brighter

;IMR: [[Rechargeable#Lithium_Manganese_.28LiMn.29_3.7V.2Fcell|Lithium-Manganese]] batteries sold by AW. Sony manufacture equivalent cells called Konion.

;IPX: a rating for water resistance in flashlights. See different ratings on the [[ANSI-NEMA FL-1|ANSI/NEMA FL-1]] page.

;KD: KaiDomain, a direct ship seller of budget brands of flashlights and parts based in China.

;LED: [[LED|light emitting diode]].

:2. short for Luxeon [[LED]], an early high-power LED (also LuxI, LuxIII, Lux3, LuxV for different versions of this LED).

;<span id="mAh">mAh</span>: milliampere-hours - a rating of [[battery capacity]] in thousandths of an ampere in an hour. A 1000mAh battery should be able to discharge 1000mA for 1 hour or 500mA for 2 hours.

:2. The ability for a flashlight capable of multiple levels of output to remember the last-used level and return to that level the next time it is switched on.

;Nailbender: a CPF member who makes high power P60 and other drop-ins for host lights.

;<span id="OP">OP</span>: 1. orange-peel.  A textured surface, e.g. for a reflector, used to smooth out beam imperfections. Compare to SMO.  

:2. on conference posts can refer to "original poster," the person who originally started the thread.

;<span id="OTF">OTF</span>: Out-the-front. The amount of light that is actually emitted out of the front of the light, usually measured in lumens. This number is always lower than lumens measured at the emitter (at the LED itself). Some manufacturers quote OTF lumens and others use emitter lumens. Usually the OTF value is around a third less than the rated output of the light-producing device. See [[Light Output Measurements]].

;P60 drop-in: an assembly of the reflector, bulb, and driver originally introduced by [[SureFire]], but now an industry standard. See article [[P60]].

;<span id="PWM">PWM</span>: Pulse Width Modulation. A technique of varying the brightness of a LED by flashing it on and off very quickly, making it appear to the eye that the LED is dimmer. Good PWM is at such a high rate that you can't notice it. But if you wave your hand in front of the light and get a strobe effect, the PWM is getting too low. Some use current regulation which makes the light dimmer without PWM and is also more efficient.

;<span id="QTC">QTC</span>: Quantum Tunneling Composite - a spongy material that provides decreasing resistance as it is compressed. It lends itself to being used in twisty flashlights, providing infinitely variable brightness as the head is pushed down onto the battery. BLF posts show it in action in a [http://budgetlightforum.cz.cc/node/1599 Tank007 E07] and a [http://budgetlightforum.cz.cc/node/1909 Mini Maglite]. Pictures of the stuff are [http://budgetlightforum.cz.cc/node/870 here]. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_Tunneling_Composite Wikipedia article]

;<span id="ramping">ramping</span>: a mode in some flashlights where the brightness varies (ramps up or ramps down) and you select the brightness level you want. Sometimes this level is then memorized, but in the original [[NiteCore]] D10 it is only used until you turn the light off again.

;runtime: a measurement of how long a flashlight will last one a set of batteries of a particular type, usually measured to 50% of the initial output (10% for [[ANSI-NEMA FL-1|ANSI/NEMA FL-1]]). Multi-mode lights have a different runtime for each mode.

;Seoul: Seoul Semiconductor, a Korean LED manufacturer. See article [[Seoul Semiconductor]].

;star: a star-shaped circuit board that an LED emitter is often mounted to. The star board provides easy-to-access solder pads, and some degree of heat-sinking.

;tactical: more of a marketing term than anything. Often refers to a light with fewer modes and a forward clicky, designed to take some abuse and possibly be mounted to a weapon. See [http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=147215 CPF discussion].

;twisty: a method of controlling a flashlight - loosening or tightening the head, control ring, or tailcap turns the light on or off or changes its level or mode. Many lights turn on with the head tightened, but some turn on with the head loosened.

;UCL: Ultra Clear Lens, a trademarked glass lens with anti-reflective coating sold by flashlightlens.com.

;unprotected: see [[#protected|protected]].

;<span id="Vf">Vf</span>: Forward Voltage (a property of an [[LED]]). The voltage drop across a LED at a given current.