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A surface which scatters almost all light in a chaotic, diffuse way is called a "lambertian" surface, such as the red ball on the left. Lambertian reflectance means that light falling on a surface is scattered in such a way that the apparent brightness of the surface is the same, regardless of the observer's angle of view. Or else: the surface's luminance is the same regardless of angle of view. Many rough surfaces, such as unfinished wood, exhibit lambertian reflectance.
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A smooth surface however reflects light uniformly and creates a very sharp or specular reflection of its environment. Specular reflection is the perfect, mirror-like reflection of light from a surface, in which light from a single incoming direction is reflected into a single outgoing reflection, as for example with a mirror.
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