Related Optical Terms and Definitions. For a complete list go to our
Terms and Definitions Page.
Bit Error Ratio (BER) Bit Error Ratio (BER) is the ratio of errors caused by the number of bits in a data stream that have been altered due to noise, interference, distoriton or bit synchronization errors.
Flatness Variation of insertion loss on the passband of an optical device.
Polarization Dependent Loss (PDL) Polarization Dependent Loss is the difference between the maximum and minimum values of loss due to the variation of the polarization states of light propagating through a device. PDL is expressed in decibels. Calculated by; PDL = 10 log10 (Ep/Es), where EP and ES are the measured diffraction efficiencies for P- and S-plane polarized incident light, respectively.
Return Loss (RL) Return Loss (RL) is the ratio of the incident power to the reflected power expressed in dB. RL = 10log (Pin/Pback)
Wavelength Resolution Wavelength Resolution is the smallest possible displayed wavelength increment/decrement.
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