A two-way mirror (also, one-way mirror or one-way glass) is a mirror which is partially reflective and partially transparent. When one side of the mirror is brightly lit and the other dark, it allows viewing from the darkened side but not vice versa.
The glass is coated with, or encases, a thin and almost-transparent layer of metal (usually aluminum). The result is a mirrored surface that reflects some light and admits the rest.
When one side is brightly lit and the other kept dark, the latter becomes difficult to see from the former because it is masked by the much brighter reflection of the lit side.
Such mirrors are used for one-way observation, with the viewing room often kept dark by a darkened curtain or a double door vestibule. These observation rooms have been used in:
Smaller versions are sometimes used in:
There is nowadays a trend for use of glass and even foil based setups of such mirrors in showcase, arts and staging setups, somewhat compareable to Pepper's ghost, in very large dimensions. The second image blended to the scenery in this cases is then either a flat screen or a projection from one or more video beamers rasing the illusion that an image is there in free air somewhat behind the mirroring surface. That technique was used at a few public locations for e.g. creating special effects in live fashion shows. Sometimes the term holographic display stands very close even if that sort of devices is a totally different category. The image is indeed flat as the projection that it is based upon.
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