Veiling glare

Veiling glare in a photograph from Cassini (spacecraft)
Veiling glare caused by stray light reflecting inside the camera or scattering in the lens

Veiling glare is an imperfection of performance in optical instruments (such as cameras and telescopes) arising from incoming light that strays from the normal image-forming paths, and reaches the focal plane.[1] The effect superimposes a form of noise onto the normal image sensed by the detector (film, digital sensor, or eye viewing through an eyepiece), resulting in a final image degraded by loss of contrast and reduced definition.[2]

  1. ^ "U.S. MIL-STD-150". U.S. Defense Logistics Agency ASSIST-QuickSearch. Retrieved July 31, 2018.
  2. ^ "Veiling Glare AKA lens flare". imatest. Retrieved July 31, 2018.