Received: by 10.66.86.6 with SMTP id l6mr2823567paz.11.1352351131391;
        Wed, 07 Nov 2012 21:05:31 -0800 (PST)
MIME-Version: 1.0
Path: 6ni68783pbd.1!nntp.google.com!news.glorb.com!npeer02.iad.highwinds-media.com!news.highwinds-media.com!feed-me.highwinds-media.com!border3.nntp.dca.giganews.com!Xl.tags.giganews.com!border1.nntp.dca.giganews.com!nntp.giganews.com!local2.nntp.dca.giganews.com!nntp.posted.southvalleyinternet!news.posted.southvalleyinternet.POSTED!not-for-mail
NNTP-Posting-Date: Wed, 07 Nov 2012 23:05:30 -0600
From: isw <i...@witzend.com>
Newsgroups: sci.electronics.repair
Subject: Re: Light Unpolarizer
Organization: witzend
References: <6fd9d5ce-6408-4a29-81d0-98204e22f49f@googlegroups.com> <qemdnXbxVc_4IwfNnZ2dnUVZ_vqdnZ2d@supernews.com> <34b2d4ce-a413-489a-9b92-a1170444ad0c@googlegroups.com>
User-Agent: MT-NewsWatcher/3.5.3b3 (Intel Mac OS X)
Date: Wed, 07 Nov 2012 21:05:29 -0800
Message-ID: <isw-A3B382.21052907112012@[216.168.3.50]>
Lines: 35
X-Usenet-Provider: http://www.giganews.com
NNTP-Posting-Host: 107.204.208.134
X-Trace: sv3-80WHm2uLHJpZfoT9SmIlSTXFXyggBm/T8np3CbZrlICzGIOARnZS1lJGTVw4UZxQoePbfHqwNHjoj7O!/foRPWCvzgElnE10AFle+koVTgSMG6DDGC1+pw4uRtRViqKuCNqL6Oad3FYg3sWA9G7/CqX4fqps!q7u2JTOzAOEILBBluueX1heyMQ==
X-Abuse-and-DMCA-Info: Please be sure to forward a copy of ALL headers
X-Abuse-and-DMCA-Info: Otherwise we will be unable to process your complaint properly
X-Postfilter: 1.3.40
X-Original-Bytes: 2962
X-Received-Bytes: 3103

In article <34b2d4ce-a413-489a-9b92-a1170444ad0c@googlegroups.com>,
 jurb6...@gmail.com wrote:

> Seriously excellent pics. It's not the cool lookingness of it, it's the way 
> it was made. However does it prove that it unpolarizes the light or just 
> gives it a twist naturally, like an LCD would ?
> 
> Anything to do with circularly polarized light does nothing to answer this. I 
> do find it an interesting subject though. Circularly polarized light is not 
> likely to be usable by LCD displays because twisting the light would make no 
> differece. 

Circular polarizers are commonly used for improving contrast on displays 
where (1) there are conductive shiny parts inside, and (2) the light is 
generated in the display (examples would be Nixie tubes and 
vacuum-fluorescents). Light that goes in gets circularly polarized, but 
when it is reflected from an electrical conductor the "rotation" is 
reversed and it can't get back out again. Light generated inside the 
display loses some intensity passing through the circular polarizer, but 
nowhere near as much as the reflected light. Circular polarizers are 
also used on some LCDs for similar reasons.

> At any rate, I am talking about something that actually unpolarizes polarized 
> light. Does such a thing exist ? Those pictures don't prove it because under 
> those test conditions all it has to do is twist a bit. It might be 
> interesting to see a motion video of that and have the cameraperson tilt the 
> camera one way and the other and see what happens.

Light that has never been polarized has "waves" at all angles. After 
it's passed through a polarizer, the only waves that get through are all 
going the same way. Passing polarized light through various things can 
change the angle of the polarization, but I don't think it can be 
randomized again.

Isaac