Re: The Real Reason for Throw-an in depth examination
Defining Throw
One thing I feel I can say about "throw" with certainty is
there are almost as many different viewpoints and interpretations about what this exactly means as there are members on CPF.
It could be said that "throw", as used on CPF is a somewhat relative term.
In my observation,
"throw" is a term used (on CPF) to describe the relative ability of a flashlight to illuminate distant objects.
The magic word being relative
Allow me to expand on this a little if I may.
A little googling reveals the following stats for pages with the word throw on CPF:
Results Phrase
17,600 throw
Now some more googling to find the word throw used in a relative context (Subsets of the 17,600 results)
Results Phrase
6,040 +throw +flood
2,550 more throw
2,640 throw further
1,170 throw as far
953 better throw
887 out throw
Sure, there are many other uses but is it fair to say a significant amount of usage of the word "throw" is relative?
eg. further than, more than, better than
Now, I repeat my observation a 2nd time,
"throw" is a term used (on CPF) to describe the relative ability of a flashlight to illuminate distant objects.
relative to what you may ask?
for starters, relative to other flashlights.
example of some chatter you might read on CPF.... (just fictional examples)
Eg.1: The XXX can easily throw
further than YYY
Eg.2: The XXX
outhrows all other lights in its price range
Eg.3: typically, a light with a
tighter beam pattern is thought of as having
more throw
than flood though this is not a rule set in stone
all the words in red infer a comparison of some sort is being made.
Now, I repeat my observation a 3rd time,
"throw" is a term used (on CPF) to describe the relative ability of a flashlight to illuminate distant objects.
I focus on the last 3 words "illuminate distant objects".
I'll be honest, I have no idea at all what "illuminate distant objects" means.
How many flashlight makers claim "can illuminate objects up to xxx meters"?
Having a consistent meaning would be a big plus, for sure but the beauty of relativity is that
you are free to define "illuminate" however you like and my observation will still hold true.
Some simple examples:
One manufacturer sells 3 different models of flashlights and claims that:
Flashlight A can clearly illuminate a car at up to 50 meters.
Flashlight B can clearly illuminate a car at up to 200 meters.
Flashlight c can clearly illuminate a car at up to 500 meters.
Another manufacturer sells 3 different models of flashlights and claims that:
Flashlight A can clearly illuminate a dog at up to 50 meters.
Flashlight B can clearly illuminate a dog at up to 200 meters.
Flashlight c can clearly illuminate a dog at up to 500 meters.
To those of you who wish to specify that it means "you must be able to see only the outline", this is fine.
To those of you who wish to specify that it means "you must be able to see color and details", this is fine.
To those of you who wish to specify that it means "there must be at least 100 lux at so & so", this is fine.
As long as your personal definition is consistent, you can determine if the flashlight can throw the given distance or not.
So where layeth the answer to yet another mysterious question?
What if I want to
explicitly measure and rate how far my super-new-mega flashlight can
throw in non-relative terms?
I believe the answer is simple (I'm sorry for being such a simple guy all the time).
I think it may require a new thread altogether but here is my suggestion.
In many ways, the questions being asked is similar to
"which flashlight is better quality" or "which flashlight is the toughest".
When many people have different perceptions about a concept or word, it is useful and common practice to develop a rating scale.
For example to measure earthquakes, it is common to use Richter Scale.
To measure toughness, it is common to use the IP Code (International Protection Rating eg. IP68)
To measure hardness, it is common to use the Mohs scale (you can google it)
If we created our own scale, the CTS (
CPF
Throw
Scale), we could define the different parameters, add an entry to CPF & Wikipedia and then we could simply state:
"flashlight throw" is a term used to describe the ability of a flashlight to illuminate distant objects as measured by the CTS scale. (the word relative is now gone)
In terms of format it might look like this (an example only):
Flashlight xyz has a throw rating of CTS-5A@100m
Flashlight aaa has a throw rating of CTS-10A@100m
Flashlight 6P has a throw rating of CTS-20D@200m
The scale parameters?
Just examples to give you an idea. This needs everyone's input.
CTS - CPF Throw Scale (just the scale name)
Size (First Digit) - minimum size of a square that must be fully illuminated by the flashlight in units of 10cm (at this Level, at this Distance). 5=50cm square, 10=1m square, 20=2m square etc
Level (First Letter) -
A: an observer 1 meter away could easily see all details of the object with maximum clarity as if they were sitting directly under a 100W incan bulb
B: an observer 1 meter away could see most details of the object as if they were sitting directly under a 60W incan bulb
C: an observer 1 meter away could see main details of the object as if they were sitting directly under a 25W incan bulb
D: an observer 1 meter away could see outlines of the object as if the object was lit by a candle
E: moonlight
F: etc, etc, etc
Distance - the number following the @ symbol is the distance (from the object to the flashlight) at which the object of Size (First Digit) is visible at Level (First Letter)
So the samples would be interpreted as:
CTS-5A@100m : a square 50cm x 50cm, visible in full detail at distance of 100m
CTS-10A@100m : a square 100cm x 100cm, visible in full detail at distance of 100m
CTS-20D@200m : a square 200cm x 200cm, visible enough to see outlines only at distance of 100m
Could sure use plenty of refinement but wanted to post sooner rather than later
tgwnn