Abstract: Disclosed are synthetic silica glass body with a birefringence pattern having low fast axis direction randomness factor and glass reflow process. The glass reflow process comprises steps of: providing a glass tube having a notch; and thermally reflowing the glass tube to form a glass plate. The process can be advantageously used to produce fused silica glass plate without observable striae when viewed in the direction of optical axis. Also disclosed are optical members comprising the fused silica glass body and a process for reflowing glass cylinders.

Abstract: A method of depicting an image at a predetermined image position comprises the step of transforming an original image using an image transformation process, the image transformation process being adapted to transform the original image according to a positional relationship between the predetermined image position and a predetermined viewing position. One or more surface characteristics of an image surface (3) at the predetermined image position are determined, and used to adapt the image transformation process. In its simplest form, the invention characterises the image surface (3) as a single plane. Any orientation that the plane of the image surface (3) may take up in three-dimensional space is quantified in terms of the degree of rotation that the plane of the image surface takes from that of a horizontal plane (5), separately, about the transverse axis (9) and/or the longitudinal axis (11) passing through a focal point in the image.

Abstract: Disclosed are synthetic silica glass body with a birefringence pattern having low fast axis direction randomness factor and glass reflow process. The glass reflow process comprises steps of: providing a glass tube having a notch; and thermally reflowing the glass tube to form a glass plate. The process can be advantageously used to produce fused silica glass plate without observable striae when viewed in the direction of optical axis. Also disclosed are optical members comprising the fused silica glass body and a process for reflowing glass cylinders.

Abstract: An image, eg of an advertising or promotional nature, is depicted in an inverse perspective form on a playing field (10) for a sporting event. The playing field is imaged by means of a video camera (12) whose line of sight (14) corresponds to the line of sight used in transforming the image to its inverse perspective form, and the output of the camera then broadcast or diffused in a television broadcasting or diffusion service.