Etendue

Etendue or étendue (/ˌeɪtɒnˈduː/; French pronunciation: ​[etɑ̃dy]) is a property of light in an optical system, which characterizes how "spread out" the light is in area and angle.

From the source point of view, it is the product of the area of the source and the solid angle that the system's entrance pupil subtends as seen from the source. Equivalently, from the system point of view, the etendue equals the area of the entrance pupil times the solid angle the source subtends as seen from the pupil. These definitions must be applied for infinitesimally small "elements" of area and solid angle, which must then be summed over both the source and the diaphragm as shown below. Etendue may be considered to be a volume in phase space.