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People are most familiar with reflective tape because of the commercialization of retroreflective safety tape by the 3M Corporation. Their product, Scotchlite, is a retroreflective material used to enhance visibility. Its primary use is for low-light conditions such as nighttime where visibility is an issue. This reflective tape has a variety of applications and various commercial lines have been developed by 3M and other competitors such as Loxy to bring reflective tape to the professional as well as the consumer market.
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The [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] Design of Scotchlite Reflective Tape

Glass beads fused into the tape strips provide the retroreflective optical properties that [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] are prized in retroreflective tape. The beads gather light from all angles of the light source and bounce the light back to its original source.


The exterior of 3M reflective tape is completely covered [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] with these tiny beads in order to take full advantage of their [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] ability to capture and return light while decreasing the [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] scatter of light particles. The beads, normally made of titanate lass, are covered in a coating of metallic flake on the back area which increases the retroreflective properties of the tape. When the tape is directly in line with the source of the light, the light causes the tape [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] to show brightly. When the tape is viewed from an angle or off the path of a light [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] source, the reflective tape looks dull, usually a silver or gray [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] color.

Retroreflective Tape Find a Home in Hollywood

This reflective process is also used in the film industry with Front Projection Effect. It is an in-camera visual effects process that combines foreground performance with a pre-filmed background image or footage. This method projects pre-filmed material over the performer and onto a highly reflective background surface. The result is that the projected image is bounced off the [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] screen and back toward the camera - which is achieved by created screens that use identical coating to [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] reflective tape.

During this process, the actor does his scene in [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] front of a screen with the camera pointed at him. There is a two-way mirror at a 45 degree angle in front of the camera. The projector sits 90 degrees to the studio camera and feeds the image over the performer, which creates the background image and places it onto the retroreflective material. The image won't show up on the actor as it isn't strong [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] enough [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] but the highly reflective material captures and displays the image clearly. This combined image is then sent through the mirror and recorded by the actual studio camera.

Reflective tape is typically found on safety clothing, is found where high visibility is required [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] such as road construction and vehicle striping, and in most areas where individuals need to be seen to be safe. There are many other applications for this technology, some of which were listed above. Due to this versatility, many other industries have benefitted from the technology by 3M and their various lines of reflective tape.