Which statement about ambient, diffuse, and specular lighting is true?

Which statement about ambient, diffuse, and specular lighting is true?

• A. Ambient lighting adds directional shading based on light direction.
• B. Diffuse lighting accounts for Lambertian reflection and depends on the angle between light and surface.
• C. Specular lighting has no dependence on the viewer angle.
• D. Ambient lighting creates shiny highlights.

Answer: (B)

Understanding how ambient, diffuse, and specular lighting behave helps you predict shading on surfaces. Ambient provides a base level of light that is the same across a surface and scene, so it doesn’t create shading based on direction. Diffuse lighting follows Lambertian reflection: the brightness on a surface depends on the angle between the incoming light and the surface normal, meaning surfaces tilted toward the light appear brighter, while their appearance changes with angle, but it doesn’t depend on where you’re viewing them. Specular lighting creates shiny highlights that do depend on the viewer’s position and the material’s shininess, producing highlights that move as you look from different angles. The statement that diffuse lighting accounts for Lambertian reflection and depends on the angle between light and surface is the best answer because it accurately describes how diffuse shading behaves: angle-based brightness following the light direction, independent of the viewer. The other statements mix up roles: ambient lighting is not directional and doesn’t produce highlights, and specular highlights depend on the viewer angle.

Understanding how ambient, diffuse, and specular lighting behave helps you predict shading on surfaces. Ambient provides a base level of light that is the same across a surface and scene, so it doesn’t create shading based on direction. Diffuse lighting follows Lambertian reflection: the brightness on a surface depends on the angle between the incoming light and the surface normal, meaning surfaces tilted toward the light appear brighter, while their appearance changes with angle, but it doesn’t depend on where you’re viewing them. Specular lighting creates shiny highlights that do depend on the viewer’s position and the material’s shininess, producing highlights that move as you look from different angles.

The statement that diffuse lighting accounts for Lambertian reflection and depends on the angle between light and surface is the best answer because it accurately describes how diffuse shading behaves: angle-based brightness following the light direction, independent of the viewer. The other statements mix up roles: ambient lighting is not directional and doesn’t produce highlights, and specular highlights depend on the viewer angle.