Wiki / Detectors / General detector

General detector

Collects light at one sensor face and reports multiple beam properties, combining power, spectrum, polarization, wavefront, and pulse information in one instrument.

Open in the canvas →

A live trace, not a picture of one — but this preview is not interactive. Open it in the canvas to move things, change parameters, and save or export your own version.

In the real world

A laboratory normally measures optical power, spectrum, polarization, beam shape, and pulse timing with different instruments. Each instrument has its own acceptance, resolution, and calibration; no single generic detector replaces all of them.

In OpticalSetup

The general detector combines the workbench's supported readings at one active face. Point the face toward the incoming beam and attach a detector screen to inspect the available views. The example uses a pulsed source so both spectral and temporal properties are present.

Reduce the active height or move the detector off-axis to see how clipping changes the collected signal. Power in watts depends on the source power specified in the scene.

Simplified vs. reality

This is a convenient composite diagnostic, not a model of one physical instrument. Its wavefront and spectral readings inherit the ray tracer's approximations; it does not add a calibrated noise floor or independent laboratory measurements.

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