13-letter words starting with op
- optical drive — optical disk drive
- optical fiber — optical fibre
- optical fibre — (communications) (fibre optics, FO, US "fiber", light pipe) A plastic or glass (silicon dioxide) fibre no thicker than a human hair used to transmit information using infra-red or even visible light as the carrier (usually a laser). The light beam is an electromagnetic signal with a frequency in the range of 10^14 to 10^15 Hertz. Optical fibre is less susceptible to external noise than other transmission media, and is cheaper to make than copper wire, but it is much more difficult to connect. Optical fibres are difficult to tamper with (to monitor or inject data in the middle of a connection), making them appropriate for secure communications. The light beams do not escape from the medium because the material used provides total internal reflection. See also FDDI, Optical Carrier n, SONET.
- optical flint — an optical glass of high dispersion and high refractive index containing lead oxide. They are used in the manufacture of lenses, artificial gems, and cut glass
- optical glass — any of several types of high-quality, homogeneous, color-free glass, as flint or crown glass, having specified refractive properties, used in lenses and other components of optical systems.
- optical mouse — (hardware) Any kind of mouse that uses visible light or infrared to detect changes in its position.
- optical sound — sound recorded on and subsequently played back from an optical or photographic soundtrack, as opposed to a magnetic soundtrack.
- optical wedge — a wedge-shaped filter whose transmittance decreases from one end to the other: used as an exposure control device in sensitometry.
- optimizations — Plural form of optimization.