A half-silvered mirror is a beam splitter created by applying a very thin layer of reflective metal or dielectric coating to a glass substrate. The coating is exactly thick enough to reflect fifty percent of the light while allowing the remaining fifty percent to pass through. These are heavily used in optical instruments, laser setups, and stage illusions.
Heard on the job
Mount the half-silvered mirror at a forty-five degree angle so the camera can shoot through it while the prompter text reflects off the front.
Also heard as
- two-way mirror
- beam splitter