The
albedo of a surface is defined
as the coefficient of
diffuse reflectivity
of a surface. In practical terms, it can be thought of as the
color that a given surface will appear when lit with a pure white
light, prior to the application of any other surface-modifying
effects such as
environment mapping.
As an example, an object with a pure red albedo will appear to be
red when lit with a white light; conceptually, all other parts
of the light are absorbed by the surface.