Reflective material also called retro reflective material. It reflect light back to the source, such as a headlight. That means that when the light from a car’s headlight shines onto the reflective material, almost 100% of the light will reflect off and go directly back to the source. There’s no diffusion, no waste, all the light bounces back to the driver.

Reflective material are widely used on Road safety. There are reflective sheeting for traffic sign, road sign, construction sign and reflective fabric, reflective film for high visibility clothing. It help the user to be more visible in the dark when a light source is present.

There are two basic types of retro reflective surfaces: glass beads surfaces and micro prismatic surface and both reflect light differently.

Glass beads reflective surfaces use glass spheres to collect light and bounce it back to the source. The rounded shape of the beads is what creates the retro reflectivity.

Prismatic reflective surfaces do the same thing but with sharp angles like prisms. They work like the glass beads but are more efficient, thus creating a brighter return of light.